The Kremlin planned to halt the import of live animals and livestock products from the EU in view of the forthcoming accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the 25-nation bloc. As of now, Russia and the EU do not import meat from Bulgaria and Romania because of the dangerous animal diseases that have been detected there.
The EU does not have a single veterinary service that can ensure the safety of meat exports from its member countries. Fearing that Romanian and Bulgarian meat may be exported to Russia via other EU countries, Russia insisted that separate agreements be signed with each member.
Like all previous attempts to find a compromise, the December 19 talks in Moscow between Sergei Dankvert, head of the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Inspection (Rosselkhoznadzor), and Marc Franco, head of the European Commission Delegation in Moscow, failed. The two sides fought tooth and nail to defend their interests.
Immediately afterwards, EU Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner Markos Kyprianou came to Moscow to salvage the negotiations because Russia's meat embargo would have cost Europe $2 billion a year.
The EU accounts for 14% of beef, 40% of pork and 12% of poultry imports to Russia (the corresponding figures for products from Brazil are 39%, 32% and 16%).
Kyprianou held a meeting with Agriculture Minister Alexei Gordeyev that was attended by Dankvert. After much haggling and mutual concessions, the sides came to terms. Russia agreed not to ban European meat imports. The negotiators' oral agreement will be formalized in a memorandum of intent, which is to be signed during International Green Week in Berlin (the leading international exhibition for the food, agriculture, and horticulture industries) in the second half of January 2007. Experts have started working on the document.
The statements made by Gordeyev and Kyprianou have clarified quite a few issues. For example, the EU has promised that prohibited meat exports from Bulgaria and Romania will not reach Russia via third countries that are members of the union.
Gordeyev said ensuring uninterrupted trade in livestock products between the EU and Russia and minimizing risks were the main goals of the talks. Only companies certified by the Russian veterinary watchdog will be allowed to export meat to Russia.
Alexei Alekseyenko, the press secretary of the Russian veterinary service, said the main advocates of trade normalization are Europe's major producers: Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark and Ireland. Their products are widely available on the Russian market, and their companies have been certified by the Russian veterinary watchdog. He said their high quality standards should be held up as a model for new EU members.
Why have Russian veterinary experts changed their mind so fast? Alekseyenko said all sides wanted a solution, and everyone was happy when they found one.
A refusal to come to terms would have damaged all sides because European meat accounts for 20% of Russia's meat imports, and it would have been impossible to find a replacement for it overnight.
A senior official from the Russian Agriculture Ministry said Russian veterinary services would monitor the export of Bulgarian and Romanian meat to Europe. As soon as the EU lifts the embargo on it, Russia will step up veterinary control at the border.
The issue of Polish meat imports was not discussed this time around, but experts say a positive solution could be found early next year, and Commissioner Kyprianou confirmed this.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and may not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.
