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EU expects Russia to lift ban on some food imports after meeting
Russia may resume imports of some banned food products from the European Union, according to the European Commission.
EU officials and Russian veterinary authorities met in Berlin in the past week to discuss trade, said Enrico Brivio, a spokesman for the Commission in Brussels. He declined to comment on which foods may be re-approved or a timeline for potential clearing of such products.
“There were meetings and the outcomes were positive,” Brivio, a spokesman for the EU’s health and food safety commissioner, said by phone Tuesday. “That should allow for a resumption of some EU products to Russia.”
Russia, once the biggest buyer of several EU foods, halted purchases in August for products including meat, fish, fruit, vegetables and dairy. The bans also applied to exports from the U.S., Canada, Norway and Australia, countries that had or supported sanctions against Russia after its incursion in Ukraine. Since that time, Russia has contended with inflation that surged to the fastest in more than five years and a currency crisis that eroded its buying power in foreign markets.
Some EU supplies of pork may soon be cleared for shipment to Russia, the European Livestock and Meat Trades Union said in a statement Monday. Pork exports were initially banned by Russia in January 2014 after the discovery of African swine fever in wild boars in some Baltic countries and Poland.
France and Russia came to an in-principle agreement on resuming trade of live pigs, pork offal and pork fat after meetings on Jan. 14, the French Agriculture Ministry said Monday. Finland said that Russia would lift restrictions on its seed potatoes and nursery plants.
Exports of EU food products banned by Russia were valued at 5.1 billion euros ($5.9 billion) in 2013, according to the European Commission.