Luxembourg, 26/04/2005 (Agence Europe) - To prevent blockading problems involving products, the European Commission on Tuesday called on Member States to swiftly implement the agreement signed on 15 March between the EU and Russia on phytosanitary certification for plant products (flowers, plants and seed: EUROPE 8908 and 8909). During the Agriculture Council Estonia was the only country to complain of a blockade on its plant products by the Russian authorities.
The agreement with the EU and Russia in force since 1 April is for the harmonisation of export documents for European plant products for the Russian market. There is, however, a three month transition period where Member States can use the old certificates. The Commission called for the rapid introduction of the new certificates in order to settle current problems. Addressing the press Markos Kyprianou, Commissioner for health and consumer protection said that there were still a few bilateral problems some of which had been settled but not all. He also said that Member States concerned should introduce the new system as soon as possible and should not wait until the 1 July. He stated that the sooner the new system entered into force the better it would be for everyone. He explained that this would allow the EU to tackle problems with Russia on the best of terms.
During the Council discussions it turned out that Russia had lifted the ban on plant products from Belgium and Denmark and would do so for Germany. The threat of a ban on French plant products (notably fruit and vegetables) was avoided but concerns, indicated the Commissioner. Only Estonian plant products remained blocked. The problem of Russian veterinary inspectors being present in some Member States was raised by certain EU countries. The Commission thinks that this problem should be settled in the context of current discussions on the signing of the bilateral veterinary agreement between the EU and Russia. The president of the Agriculture Council, Fernand Boden said that if Russia became a member of the WTO, problems of this kind could be sorted out more easily as they would be integrated into a multilateral structure and there would be a chance to respond by asking, for example, a panel of experts to be set up.