Brussels, 10/02/2003 (Agence Europe) - Last Friday, the European Commission was unable to convince the Russian authorities that they should stop meat import restrictions (poultry, beef and pigmeat - see EUROPE of 1 February 2003, p.13). In a press release, the Commission mainly criticises Russia for not having consulted the EU before taking such measures. The Russian attitude is considered as not being in compliance with the EU-Russia Partnership and Cooperation Agreement.
During the so-called "consultation" meeting, the Head of the EU delegation in Russia, Richard Wright, explained to Russia's Deputy Minister for Economic Development and Trade Maxim Medvedkov that these measures could cause serious injury to European meat exports. The Commission called on Russia to explain how it planned to manage the quotas so that trade would not be disrupted. According to the experts, European pigmeat exports would be dealt the hardest blow by the Russian decision.
After the consultations held last Friday, Mr Wright declared: "We very much regret that Russia did not consult the EU in a proper and timely way before taking these steps, in particular when we have such a strong and privileged trade relationship under the EU-Russia Partnership and Cooperation Agreement. We have agreed to continue the consultations in the near future and I hope that this will allow us to make progress in this area".