Kyprianou seeks to end ban on Polish meat

Markos Kyprianou, the health commissioner, will meet Poland’s Farm Minister Andrzej Lepper in Warsaw on Monday (15 January) as the EU attempts to end Russia’s ban on imports of Polish meat.

EU and Polish officials are to meet their Russian counterparts on 17-19 January in Berlin and will discuss ways of lifting a 14-month-old ban on Polish meat and vegetable exports that cost the Polish economy €400 million last year.

Russia accuses some Polish exporters of not meeting health standards and of falsifying export licences.

Diplomats and industry sources said that though some uncertainty remains they expected Russia to lift the ban on 19 January, the same day that the EU and Russia are to sign a deal ensuring meat exports from all the EU’s 27 member states.

The meat dispute has blighted EU-Russia relations. In December Poland’s opposition prevented the EU from launching formal talks on a strategic partnership treaty with Russia. That treaty would encompass all political, economic and energy ties, replacing the decade-old Partnership and Co-operation Agreement which forms the basis of current EU-Russia ties.

There are concerns that any agreement reached on 19 January may not stick, despite what one European Commission spokesperson described as a "very positive climate" ahead of the meeting.

Some diplomats fear that Russia might agree to reopen exports just long enough for Poland to lift its veto on the new strategic agreement and then renege on the deal.

Polish officials now say that they want to see firm commitments from the Russian authorities.

Negotiations are complicated by Russia’s threat to extend its embargo to cover all EU member states, citing concerns about health standards in Bulgaria and Romania, two countries which joined the EU on 1 January.

Kyprianou visited Moscow on 19 December and persuaded Russia not to introduce the EU-wide ban from 1 January, but a comprehensive agreement still has to be put in place, which is the objective for 19 January.

The Polish government remains angry that Kyprianou did not deal with the Poland-Russia dispute directly during his talks with Russian Agriculture Minister Alexei Gordeyev in Moscow.

Markos Kyprianou, the health commissioner, will meet Poland’s Farm Minister Andrzej Lepper in Warsaw on Monday (15 January) as the EU attempts to end Russia’s ban on imports of Polish meat.