MOSCOW, July 2, 2008 (AFP) - Russia has temporarily banned beef imports from two Brazilian states due to an outbreak of disease, the Russian food safety agency Rosselkhoznadzor said.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the agency said the ban applied to meat and livestock imports from the states of Goias and Pernambuco and was prompted by an outbreak of vesicular stomatitis.

Brazil is by far the largest source of beef for Russia, supplying 438,000 tonnes to the Russian market last year, or 62 percent of total beef imports, the Vremya Novostei newspaper reported on Wednesday.

However the ban affects far from all Brazilian beef supplies to Russia as Goias is home to just 11 out of 70 Brazilian producers certified by the agency, while Pernambuco has none at all, the newspaper reported.

Meanwhile a major ban affecting all imports of Turkish fruit and vegetables announced at the start of June remains in place due to excessive levels of chemicals and also pests found in deliveries to Russia, the newspaper reported.

It quoted a spokesman for the food safety agency as saying a certification system was being developed with Turkey to exempt certified producers from the ban.