April 11, 2007

Poland agrees to start poultry talks with Russia

EU officials stated that Poland has agreed to begin negotiations with Russia on poultry import regulations.

Poland had also agreed to drop its veto on the start of talks on a new partnership deal between the EU and Russia. The country had initially blocked negotiations aimed at creating a new EU-Russia deal because of a Russian embargo on Polish meat and plant products.

Moscow had justified its ban alleging that some of the exports from Poland had fake veterinary certificates.

In return, Poland charged that Russia's embargo is politically motivated, stating that it wants to punish former satellite countries in central Europe that have joined the EU.

However, Rosselkhoznadzor, the animal and plant disease watchdog in Russia, also banned imports of pork and chicken meat from some German and French factories after finding food safety problems in some shipments.

EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou is expected to discuss the Russian embargo on Polish food imports in an upcoming meeting with Russia's Agriculture Minister Alexei Gordeyev.