Brussels, 06/07/2000 (Agence Europe) - The European Anti-Fraud Office (Olaf) and the Russian Customs Committee signed a cooperation agreement on Thursday aimed at improving information exchange on the export of beef and pork from the EU to Russia. The aim is to allow for better monitoring of entry onto the Russian territory of European agricultural products. So as to benefit from the specific export refund rate for the sale of these products in Russia, exporters must indeed provide a certificate guaranteeing entry onto the territory and of the product's being placed on the market.
This is the first agreement of its type. For now, it is limited to beef and pork - one has first to see if the system works before extending it to other fields, Olaf sources explain.