Brussels, 30/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 27 June, the EU officially requested the WTO to rule over a dispute between the EU and Russia regarding the embargo that Moscow has imposed on European exports of pork and pig products since January. The Russian embargo is due to a limited number of cases of African swine fever affecting boar in certain areas of Lithuania and Poland, close to the border with Belarus.
The EU considers that the Russian import restrictions are incompatible with WTO rules, notably with the agreement on the application of sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPS Agreement) and the GATT 1994. At the EU's request, and as part of the initial stages of the dispute settlement, consultations were held on 30 April and 1 May 2014 between Russia and the EU. However, they did not lead to a lifting of the measures or any proper justification for them to be maintained, the European Commission states in a press release. Furthermore, subsequent bilateral discussions did not bring any progress either.
“Russia's import restrictions on European pork are clearly disproportionate, discriminatory and not based on science. As this goes against international trade rules, Europe has no choice but to request the establishment of a panel at the WTO”, said European Commissioner for Trade Karel De Gucht. His counterpart for health, Tonio Borg, regretted that Russia did not accept the EU's offer of only banning European pork from the infected areas (principle of regionalisation). “The EU immediately put in place measures to contain the spread of the disease. Thus, EU products from the non-affected areas are perfectly safe. Despite our efforts over the last five months and the numerous bilateral contacts we had with Russia, there is no sign that Russia will allow trade to resume from the unaffected areas in the EU”, said Borg. His colleague for agriculture, Dacian Ciolos, highlights the revenue lost to the EU pork sector, which in five months has come to €580 million.
In 2013, the year before the embargo, Russia absorbed a quarter of Europe's exports of pig products - mainly from the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark - worth a total annual value of €1.4 billion. (EH)