Russia has banned all imports of poultry and poultry products in direct response to violations of veterinary regulations, the Agriculture Ministry announced yesterday.

The ministry said that it had withdrawn all permission for this year's imports from now on. It was unclear how long the ban would be in effect, and the ministry said it would establish a simplified procedure for issuing such permission.

The ministry cited a series of instances of products violating veterinary regulations, but it did not disclose which countries were involved in the alleged violations.

The RIA Novosti news agency reported that the announcement camea week after about 300 members of the Russian poultry producers' union protested to demand that poultry imports should be limited. They complained that the continually-growing wave of imports affected domestic poultry production.