Russia-Under fire for meat bans.

Russia is facing widespread criticism for import bans on pork in response to the A/H1N1 influenza virus, also known as the swine flu, which U.S. officials and international organizations say has not been transmitted by food.

The World Health Organization said Saturday that there was no risk of infection from consumption of well-cooked pork and pork products, following similar comments in letters from the U.S. commerce secretary urging Russia and China to reconsider the restrictions.

The outpouring of criticism from international and U.S. health agencies appeared to put Gennady Onishchenko, head of the Federal Consumer Protection Service, on the defensive over the weekend.

"Statements from WHO officials who have not provided the virus’s characteristics to state medical authorities are perplexing," he told Interfax on Sunday. A day earlier, he said Russian scientists were ready to study the deadly strain of the virus once they receive it from their U.S. colleagues.

In a joint statement — signed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the World Organization for Animal Health, and the World Trade Organization — the WHO said Saturday that there was so far "no evidence that the virus is transmitted by food" and "no justification … for the imposition of trade measures on the importation of pigs or their products."

Since April 26, the Agriculture Ministry’s veterinary health watchdog has been restricting raw meat imports from countries and U.S. states with reported cases of the virus. On Wednesday, a commission chaired by First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov decided to keep the bans in place until June 1.

In letters dated Thursday, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke urged Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin and Economic Development Minister Elvira Nabiullina to request that the restrictions be lifted.

"Both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States have stated that it is safe to eat properly prepared pork and pork products. The CDC has said categorically that the H1N1 virus is not transmitted by food. There have been no reports of the new H1N1 human influenza occurring in swine in the United States," Locke wrote to Nabiullina.

"There should be no restrictions on trade without cause," he wrote to Kudrin.

Bans on pork and chicken have been a sticking point in trade relations between Moscow and Washington. A letter was also sent to Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming.

China and Russia account for 20 percent of U.S. pork exports.

"These moves have greatly disrupted all meat trade with Russia, creating tremendous confusion among exporters about product eligibility," the U.S. Meat Export Federation said in a statement on its web site late last week.

In a troublesome sign for pork producers, Canada on Saturday confirmed the first case of the new virus in pigs.

The Russian Agriculture Ministry’s health watchdog said Saturday that it was extending the ban on all meat imports from South Carolina and on pork imports from Spain and some Canadian provinces. The watchdog also said it might extend the ban on meat products from Canada and the United Kingdom.

As of Sunday, Russia has halted pork imports from 11 U.S. states, three Canadian provinces, Spain and nine Latin American countries. Additionally, all meat imports are banned from Mexico, California, New York, South Carolina and Texas.