RFE/RL with reporting by minsksanepid.by and Interfax 15 December 2014, 22:23
Belarus' chief sanitary inspector and deputy health minister, Ihar Hayeuski, has banned imports of Russia-produced noodles and coffee amid a trade spat between the two countries.
The Minsk sanitary control service, Sanepidsluzhba, published Hayeuski's order on its website on December 15.
The order says that two brands of instant noodles by Russia's BioFood company -- "Golden Noodle" and "Big Lunch" -- and the "Mokko" coffee brand by Paulis Rus company have been banned by Belarus as they "do not correspond to the country's requirements for sanitary and epidemiologic safety of the population and the standards of the Customs Union."
The order was dated December 12, one day after Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka blamed Moscow for the ongoing trade dispute that is straining ties between the two members of the "Union State" and Customs Union.
