Newsmakers

Russia banned EU vegetables over E.coli

(Agencies)
Updated: 2011-06-03 17:37

A trader attends to a customer at her stall in a market in St. Petersburg June 2, 2011. Russia banned imports of raw vegetables from the European Union on Thursday because of a deadly E.coli outbreak centred in Germany, a move branded "disproportionate" by Brussels.[Photo/Agencies]

MOSCOW - Russia banned imports of fresh vegetables from the European Union on May 2, accusing Brussels of sowing chaos by failing to give sufficient information about a deadly E.coli outbreak.

The European Commission said Moscow's move was disproportionate. The outbreak has killed 17 people and made more than 1,500 others ill, and food poisoning is spreading from Germany across Europe.

Russia extended a ban on German and Spanish fresh vegetables to cover the European Union because it said Moscow had not been given proper information on the situation despite repeated requests. The source of the infection is still unclear.