March 19, 2012

EU to deter Russia's live pigs import ban

In order to avert an imminent Russian ban on import of live pigs from a number of EU member states, EU experts held talks in the Russian capital Moscow on Thursday (Mar 15).

Russia's food safety and sanitary watchdog, Rosselkhoznadzor, had stated earlier this month that a ban will be imposed from March 20 on all cattle imports from all EU countries in order to prevent spread of the highly virulent Schmallenberg and Bluetongue viruses.

The former is thought to be responsible for causing congenital malformations and has been detected in cattle, sheep and goats in Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, France, the UK, Italy and Luxembourg. According to the European Parliament (EP) website, thus far more than 1,200 farms have been affected in the EU.

On March 15 the EP held a special session on the issue where a number of its deputies called on the European Commission, the EU's executive branch, to ensure better exchange of information on the issue among EU member states as well as speed up research on preventing the viruses. At the same time the EP members called Russia's as well as a number of other countries' decision to ban live stock imports from the EU "unjustified".

Russian authorities have already stopped importing live stock from the UK and will extend the ban to Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Latvia. The Latvian government has been particularly concerned with the looming ban on live pig imports as it will affect around 75% of its total food export revenues. The Baltic country has urged the EU to act in unison in an effort to put pressure on the Russian government and avoid the ban.

The Russian authorities' latest decision follows an earlier ban on fresh vegetables from the EU imposed last year. From a legal point of view Russia could impose the ban in 2011 as it was not a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which bars its member states from imposing restrictions based on sanitary or hygiene concerns that could hinder free trade.

However in December 2011 Moscow finally joined the WTO and the upcoming ban will be in violation of its regulations. The EU experts currently in Moscow are likely to urge Russia to adhere to WTO rules. Given that there is no evidence that the virus is affecting pigs, the EU negotiators may try to persuade Russia to at least exclude the ban on live pig imports. This could prevent the negative impact on the Latvian economy, which is heavily dependent on Russian market for its undiversified exports.