Brussels, 12/12/2007 (Agence Europe) - Thanks to an agreement unveiled on Wednesday 12 December, Polish produced meat will soon find its way back to the Russian market. The Russian embargo on Polish meat has been in force since November 2005 and prevented Poland from giving the green light to negotiations on a new EU-Russia partnership and cooperation agreement. Russia cited Polish health control problems to justify the embargo.
At the end of the meeting in Moscow with his Polish counterpart, the Russian agriculture minister, Alexi Gordeiev, declared that a memorandum on the meat trade would be signed next week between the veterinary services of the two countries. Immediately after the signing of the text, “practically all restrictions will be lifted”, added the Russian minister.
Russia will maintain a ban on poultry imports from Poland due to bird flu in the latter. Moscow, however, is committed to respecting the principle of regionalisation (ban only on deliveries that come from epizooty infected zones). There is still another problem to solve: that of plant product imports into Russia from the EU. According to Gordeiev, a solution is soon expected to be found in the bilateral relations for these products (with some member states of the EU) and in the discussions with the European Commission. (L.C.)