03 June 2004 03:55
Meat From EU Stopped at the Border
Russia stopped clearing beef, pork and poultry shipments from the European Union on Tuesday in a spat over
certification that could have dire consequences for European producers.
"We have suspended meat imports as of June 1 and are not signing off on old veterinary certificates," a
spokeswoman at the Agriculture Ministry said Wednesday.
"Consultations [with the EU] are continuing," she added, but refused to elaborate.
Moscow has pushed for Europe-wide certificates that would replace bilateral certificates it had negotiated with each
EU member state. The government wanted the new certificates to come into force on May 1, but extended the deadline until
June 1 when no agreement was met.
Yet the EU is claiming it was caught off guard by the decision to stop accepting the old certificates.
"We don't know yet what is going on," Gregor Kreuzhuber, a European Commission spokesman, said by
telephone from Brussels.
"We have contacted the Russian side via our ambassador in Moscow to clarify [the situation] ... We are surprised
about the action and insist the deadline be extended beyond June 1."
It is still too early to quantify lost business, but if the meat ban lasts much longer, it could turn into a
"disaster," Jean-Luc Mrieux, secretary-general of the EU's livestock and meat trading association, said
by telephone.
However he called the idea of a single certificate "a fair and good goal" and said the EU's meat
industry is in favor of such a "harmonious" certificate.
There are no reports of trucks lining up at the Russian border, as deliveries are being held at production points
pending a resolution, he said.
"For European industry, it is a very difficult situation. Russia is our No. 1 client, [accounting] for 60
percent of beef exports and 23 percent of pork exports," Mrieux said.
This year, Russia plans to import from the EU 205,000 tons of poultry, 227,300 tons of pork and 331,800 tons of beef,
according to the Russian National Meat Association.
"We are going down to zero from tomorrow -- from a lot of business to no business," said Jens Rahbek,
export manager for meat giant Danish Crown in Copenhagen. "I don't know how long it will last, but hope for a
quick solution."
Russian market players agreed.
"Shutting out Europe is bad both for Russia and European producers," said Veronika Maximova, deputy head of
the Russian National Meat Association. "Suspending deliveries will be quite painful for domestic meat processing
plants, which are very dependent on European meat."
Prices on meat products may go up by 5 percent as a result of the suspension, said Musheg Mamikonyan, president of
the Russian Meat Union.
Mamikonyan and Maximova said they understand why Russia is demanding a new certificate, but expect a compromise
soon.
EC spokesman Kreuzhuber said he was not too sure of a speedy resolution, despite ongoing negotiations.
"So far, we see no solution to the problem," he said.
The stumbling block is that a new EU-wide certificate would shift administrative duties from member-state governments
to Brussels, which is wholly unprepared for the flood of extra paperwork.
Kreuzhuber said that the existing system worked well and that it is unclear how the Russian demands can be
implemented. He refused to elaborate on the details of the negotiations.
"We would like to have more solid guarantees of safety on products delivered to Russia," Sergei Dankvert,
the head of Russian Veterinary Control, said last month, Interfax reported.
Conceivably, a single certificate would imply that a safety violation by one member state could reflect on the rest
of the EU, Maximova said.
Dankvert conceded, however, that each individual EU country would have to amend legislation to meet Russia's
demands for a single certificate.
"Russia has the right to demand this certificate, as this is a single economic space and meat can come from
anywhere," Mamikonyan said.
"Russian consumers will suffer from the suspension, but this is not enough of an argument because we're
talking about safety."
.TX-..**********************************************
[The Moscow Times] |
RUSSIA IN FACTS
