EU urges Russia to reconsider pig import ban

The European Union (EU) Friday called on Russian authorities to take into account all the evidence before banning pig imports from EU member states.

EU Health Commissioner Tonio Borg said the bloc had acted quickly to contain the spread of infection after two cases of African swine fever were detected in wild boar in north European nation of Lithuania Friday, Xinhua reported.

Russia banned pork imports from EU member states last week after the African swine fever virus infections were reported.

Borg said interim protective measures have been swiftly adopted by the Commission "to regionalise the infected area within Lithuania".

After investigations by the World Organisation for Animal Health, Borg said the virus in Lithuania originated from neighbouring non-EU countries where the disease had not been not contained.

"I called again upon the Russian authorities to take into account all the evidence presented to them, including the results of on-the-spot inspections. I will today resubmit our proposal on regionalisation," Borg added.