A Russian ban on all meat imports from Moldova came into force Monday, stepping up a campaign of trade restrictions imposed this year as Moldova moved closer to the European Union.
Sergei Dankvert, head of Russia's Federal Veterinary and Phytosanitary Inspection Service, told news agency TASS of the impending ban last week, citing alleged sanitary violations.
"In certain instances, meat from Moldova has come from unidentified sources and is unsafe by veterinary-sanitary measures," Dankvert said.
Russia has struck Moldova with a spate of trade restrictions since the Moldovan parliament ratified an association agreement with the EU in July.
Fruit imports were banned shortly afterward. In late August, Russia imposed import duties on a range of Moldovan products, overturning a free trade regime that had previously existed between the two countries.