The U.N. Wildlife Service said on Tuesday it will suspend the import of a salato species that is suspected to be responsible for the deaths of more than 400 people in Russia and China.
“We are deeply concerned by reports that the ‘deadliest’ salatos species, Salato solanus, has been imported to Russia,” the agency said in a statement.
“This species has been used for human consumption for centuries in many parts of the world and is currently a serious threat to human health and well-being.”
We urge the Russian and Chinese governments to immediately halt import and export of Salato Solanus from these countries.
We urge all states to also cease importing and exporting these species.
“In addition, we urge the importation of salatoes from countries that export them to Russia and other countries that import them.”
The United States has not taken any steps to halt the import, which was authorized by a 2015 agreement between Russia and the United States.
The U.K. said in September it would suspend the export of a variety of salatos in response to the death of the South China Sea turtle.
The U.-K.
agreement was struck after a similar agreement was suspended in 2016, and it was not clear whether the countries would have been able to reach a similar deal without Russian cooperation.
U.S.-China trade has been a top focus of the U.SN’s “Global Threats to Wildlife” project, which tracks wildlife threats and threats to the global economy.