MOSCOW - RUSSIA said on Thursday it was partially lifting a controversial ban on the import of Spanish pork products imposed after the outbreak of swine flu.

Russia's food safety agency Rosselkhoznadzor said that it was lifting the ban for all of Spain with the exception of the provinces of Barcelona, Seville and Valencia.

'After receiving information from Spain's federal veterinary service... it has become possible to allow the import to Russia' of Spanish pork products, the food agency said in a statement.

The statement did not say why the ban remained in place for Barcelona, Seville and Valencia.

The European Union has criticised Russia's wide-ranging bans on meat and pork imports in the wake of the outbreak of (A)H1N1 flu as 'unjustified,' but Moscow has defended the measures.

The World Health Organization and three other major organisations have also denounced boycotts of pork over fears the meat could be a means of spreading the A(H1N1) virus, saying there was no evidence it was a source of infection.

Russia banned on pork or meat imports generally from a string of places affected by swine flu, including Britain, Mexico, several US states, Canada and Spain. It has since lifted a ban on pork imports from five US states.

The World Health Organisation said on Thursday that the number of laboratory-confirmed swine flu cases had reached 6,497 in 33 countries around the world, with 65 having died from the disease.

However no cases have been recorded in Russia. -- AFP