Russia lifts ban on EU meat imports
The ban was imposed by Moscow earlier last week because of food safety certification issues.
Russia wants the 25 European countries to use a uniform veterinary certificate rather than individual certificates.
Ireland sells about 75,000 tonnes of beef with a trade value of over €100 million to Russia this country's biggest beef customer outside the EU.
Reuters newsagency yesterday reported a Russian veterinary service official as saying the ban on meat imports from the EU had been lifted from June 5 to June 10.
The European Commission predicted last Friday that the ban could soon be lifted after President Romano Prodi had spoken to Russian prime minister Mikhail Fradkov.
"We have started accepting (EU meat) shipments from June 5, following an order from the Agriculture Ministry," a Russian official was quoted as saying yesterday. "We will accept shipments accompanied by old certificates until June 10." He declined to say if meat imports from the EU could be stopped again after June 10.
Russia had told the EU it wanted a single food safety certificate to cover all EU meat imports, worth 1.3bn a year to European producers, before barring them from June 1.
Under EU law, each member state is responsible for certifying the safety of food exports provided they respect EU rules. Russia has bilateral deals with the 15 old EU members.
