Call for Government to act over ban

PRESSURE mounted on the Government yesterday to protect the country’s €40 million beef export trade with Russia.

Moscow has threatened to ban all meat exports from the European Union from January 1 next in a dispute with Poland over food standards. It involves Russian concerns about the status of animal products from Romania and Bulgaria once these states have joined the EU.

Agriculture and Food Minister Mary Coughlan recently confirmed that the Russian Federation had not expressed any concerns about Irish beef, which meets all its veterinary requirements for export.