EU upset over Russian restrictions on meat imports

The EU is unhappy with the continued actions of the Russian veterinary authorities, which for various reasons continue to restrict pork and beef imports from the EU and other countries.

Examples of restriction include a recent Russian ban on the supply of the Finnish pork meat produced by Atria, as well as a ban on the export of pigs from two Polish companies.

According to some analysts, the Russian veterinary requirements remain too strict and bureaucratic, sometimes causing the introduction of unnecessary bans on meat imports from the EU and other countries.

The European Commission has repeatedly expressed its dissatisfaction with unreasonable actions of the Russian veterinary authorities which conflicted with the internationally accepted recommendations of the International Epizootic Office.

In turn, the Russian animal and plant health watchdog, Rosselkhoznadzor has denied all the claims, calling these bans as a necessary measure which helps to prevent imports of potentially harmful meat and meat products to Russia from abroad.

One solution is to replace the current system of temporary import restrictions by a total veterinary inspections of all meat batches supplied to Russia, however this process would very expensive, and therefore may affect the retail prices of imported meat.