Russia`s state consumer watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, has banned porcelain ware made by Belarus’ government-owned company in Dobrush, claiming that it contains unsafe levels of cadmium and lead.
The press office of Belarusian state light industry concern Bellehpram that controls the Dobrush Porcelain Plant dismissed the allegation on Monday. It said that the concentrations of the two toxic elements were below the maximum permissible levels in place in both Belarus and Russia.
On April 30, Rospotrebnadzor announced that the unsafe ware was found during an inspection of a sole entrepreneur in Russia’s Zabaikalsky Krai, a region in Eastern Siberia.
In one sample, the concentrations of cadmium and lead exceeded 242 and 60 times Russia’s maximum permissible levels for material that comes into contact with foodstuffs, Rospotrebnadzor said.
The chief of the consumer watchdog, Gennady Onishchenko, ordered that the ware be withdrawn from the Russian market.
The Bellehpram press office said that it had probed Rospotrebnadzor`s allegation at the request of Natallya Pyatkevich, first deputy head of the Presidential Administration.
It accused Rospotrebnadzor of applying wrong standards to the ware and, "thus, obtaining inaccurate results."
The ware was tested in Belarus for levels of the two elements in accordance with a different Russian standard and "no actual concentrations of cadmium and lead were found or their levels were below the maximum permissible levels 100 to 1,000 times," the press office said.
"It should be noted that no official complaints about the quality were sent by Russian buyers or supervisory agencies to AAT Dobrush Porcelain Plant," it added.
