Minister: Russia, EU to send no new pork claims to WTO

DAVOS, Jan 26 (PRIME) -- Russia has completed consultations with the E.U. over the pork conflict and the sides will submit no new mutual claims to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin told reporters on Friday.

“We have had consultations with the E.U., it is a known story. But in fact, the E.U. colleagues admitted that they have no big opportunities to protect their position and adopt retaliation measures amounting to 1.3 billion euros, as it was stated. This is why we agreed with them to continue the consultations concerning how we will gradually solve the dispute. We expect no new cases here, we have managed to solve all issues with no losses for Russia,” Oreshkin said.

On January 30, 2014, the Russian veterinary authority prohibited imports of European pork products until receipt of safety warrants from the European Commission after an outbreak of African swine fever in Lithuania. The E.U. called the prohibition a disproportional measure and sent a petition to convoke an expert group over the disagreement to the WTO.

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