March 26, 2007

EU to take action on Russian meat concerns by end March
 

The European Union will respond by end march on meat trade row between Russia and Poland as well as the threat of a wider meat ban of Moscow from the bloc, EU's health chief said Saturday (March 24).

Moscow has rejected Polish meat and plant products more than a year ago on health and sanitary grounds. The EU has said the ban is unreasonable while Poland believes it is politically motivated.

EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said the commission is still in a middle of technical discussions but expressed confidence Russia will entirely lift the ban.

The standoff between Russia and Poland over meat imports is delaying talks on a new partnership pact between Moscow and the European Union.

Russia has also raised concerns at EU meat quality guidelines and maximum residue levels of pesticides in plant products.

Earlier this month Russia threatened to ban some meat products if the EU did not provide data by the end of March for monitoring residues of dangerous and banned substances in live animals, products and feed.

Kyprianou said the EU would comply with the Russian request.