Poland wants to export more meat to Russia

So far, only six Polish meat companies have been permitted to supply Russia with beef and pork, nine with poultry, 20 with dairy produce and one with egg products. Four companies have a license to store agricultural products prior to onward shipment to Russia. An earlier Russian ban on Polish meat was previously a major source of tension between Moscow and Warsaw. In January 2008, the two countries signed a memorandum lifting the ban, imposed in 2005 over claims of low quality imports.

Jerzy Rutkowski, head of the Polish embassy’s economic department, said since the memorandum was signed, Russian inspectors had carried out inspections of several Polish meat producers, but only five had received accreditation to export to Russia. “There are many more meat processing enterprises in Poland that wish to export their produce to Russia and that meet Russian veterinary standards,” he said. “A little more than 4,000 tons of meat was delivered to Russia from Poland from the start of this year until the end of April. This is an insignificant amount," the embassy official said, adding that Poland would like the number of its meat exporters to Russia to increase several fold.

Poland had earlier vetoed the start of negotiations on a new EU partnership agreement with Moscow over Russia’s meat embargo. Warsaw lifted its veto after the two countries resolved the dispute and took steps to improve relations. (rian.ru)