POLAND: Russian ban on Polish meat has no technical justification says EU envoy in Warsaw.

The European Union will assure Russia that Poland has met requirements for its meat products which have been banned from the Russian market on charges of false veterinary certificates. Poland has blocked talks between the EU and Russia on a landmark agreement last year, demanding Russia to lift the ban. The European Union will provide Russia with all necessary assurances needed to lift a ban on Polish meat products and will urge Moscow to do so at a meeting later this week, the bloc's health chief said on Monday (January 15). European Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner Markos Kyprianou visited Poland in a bid to find a solution to a year-old ban on Polish food products. "At this stage what I would say is to make sure that there is no technical justification for the other side (Russia) to maintain concerns regarding the implementation of the veterinary legislation in Poland. So at this stage I believe it is extremely important to offer the evidence and give the assurances to the other side that the measures are in place so there is no technical justification for these measures (ban on meat products)," Kyprianou told a news conference after a meeting Polish Farm Minister Andrzej Lepper. Russia is refusing to lift the ban on meat imports from Poland, citing health issues during transportation, but Poland believes the ban is politically motivated. The ban prompted Warsaw to veto an agreement between the EU and Russia last year. Kyprianou said the EU had sufficient documents to prove Warsaw was meeting all rules and believed Russia should lift the veto after it received all the assurances at a meeting of experts in Berlin, due on Wednesday (January 17). Earlier on Monday (January 15), Vladimir Chizhov, Russia's envoy to the EU, said it was unlikely that a solution would be found at Wednesday's meeting. He said however, that if Poland and the EU presented necessary assurances, a deal could be possible when German Chancellor Angela Merkel visits Moscow on Jan. 21.

ITN Source | January 16, 2007

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