Russia lays out conditions for EU vegetable ban removal

(MOSCOW) - Russia said Thursday it would need to be convinced that Europe has a lethal bacteria outbreak under control before lifting a ban on vegetable imports from the European Union.

The Russian consumer watchdog said that "the competent structures" from Germany or the European Union should confirm the "reasons for the epidemic" of supposed E. coli in Germany and a number of other European countries.

They should also establish how and through which foodstuffs the bacteria was being transmitted and pinpoint the origin of contaminated foods, the consumer watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, said in a statement.

European officials should also prove the situation has been taken under control and release a list of measures that have prevented the disease from spreading further.

"Receiving the above-listed information will allow to drastically correct the situation and prevent the disease from spreading among the Russian population, with traders sustaining minimal losses," the consumer watchdog known said in the statement posted on its website.

Earlier in the day Moscow infuriated the European Union by banning fresh vegetables from its 27 member states and faulting its health safety system for the death of 18 people from a lethal bacterial strain.

The European Commission called on Russia to immediately withdraw the ban, calling the measure "disproportionate".