MOSCOW, June 15 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's chief doctor Gennady Onishchenko said on Monday that the return of the Belarusian dairy products to the Russian market will take a significant amount of time.
"This is not a day or two, this is an appreciable period," Onishchenko said.
Earlier in June, Russia banned imports of more than 1,000 types of milk products from Belarus, saying producers in the ex-Soviet republic had failed to comply with new Russian standards.
"We have received a list of products that the Belarusian side will deliver to the Russian market. This is about 600 types of products and producers," Onishchenko said.
He added that Russia was interested in resolving the dairy dispute and a protocol on formalizing the agreements was expected to be signed between the two sides on Tuesday.
Russia introduced new technical regulations last year stipulating a variety of product-safety, terminology, packaging and labeling standards for milk and dairy-products. However, Belarus has not yet complied with the new regulations.
Minsk, which earns billions of dollars from dairy exports, qualified the move as "economic discrimination" and boycotted a post-Soviet security summit in Moscow on Sunday.
Russia moved on Monday to heal a trade rift with Belarus, with the Foreign Ministry reaffirming its commitment to stronger ties and premier warning officials against harsh statements directed at Minsk.
