Russia`s consumer rights watchdog Rospotrebnadzor rejected 655,000 liters of imported Moldovan wine in October due to safety reasons, the Russian chief sanitary doctor said.

"We have allowed 6.08 liters [of wine] and rejected as defective 655,000 liters," Gennady Onishchenko said.

Russia, previously the importer of 80 percent of all wine produced in Moldova, embargoed deliveries in March 2006. In 2007, over 40 Moldovan wine producing enterprises passed sanitation and epidemiological checks and supplies were resumed.

At the end of June, the agency declared the detection of pesticides and dibutilphthalates in Moldovan wine after Moldovan President Mihai Ghimpu declared June 28 the Day of Soviet Occupation. Onishchenko rejected any link between the department`s actions and Moldovan authorities` policy.

In August, Russia said the situation with the wine supplies` quality has changed and resumed deliveries from 53 Moldovan suppliers. In September, Onischenko said Russia would widen the list of importers and open a new customs checkpoint on its border.
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