Brussels, 21/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - Critical of the use being made of trade as a political weapon, EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht did not rule out taking the issue of Lithuanian dairy products to the WTO.
With EU trade ministers meeting in Luxembourg, the suspension by Russia of imports of Lithuanian dairy products, that has been in place on health grounds since mid-September, was discussed by the WTO's Council for trade in Goods on 18 October.
While awaiting the outcome of this first discussion in Geneva, De Gucht has once again criticised the political reasons behind the trade decisions taken by Moscow. “If nothing happens, if nothing changes, then we are going to take the matter to the WTO certainly, without any hesitation”. He said that border checks on Lithuanian transporters entering Russia seem to have stopped but the measures against Lithuanian dairy products are still in place. “We cannot accept that Russia acts in this way and, if they are doing this with one member state, they are doing it with the whole of the European Union”, he stated, adding that such measures could not be used as a means of retaliation. He said it was “high time that Russia start to respect the rules that they subscribed to”. (EH/transl.fl)