Russian import bans hurt neighbours

The EU's Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou says Poland has done enough to meet Russian demands concerning the quality of its meat exports - but so far Russia has not ended its ban.

The EU's health chief said Russia's ban on Polish meat was unjustified

The BBC's Steven Eke examines Russia's controls on food and drink imports from its neighbours.

Each time Russia has announced a new ban - Belarusian sugar aside - a powerful Russian official agency, Rospotrebnadzor (the Directorate for Consumer Rights and Health Protection), has alleged that the food products were contaminated with pesticides or heavy metals, or in some other way harmful.

The bans have had a significant impact on the producers.

More than 60% of Latvian fish exports, for example, were destined for the Russian market.

A similar proportion of Ukrainian milk products, especially cheese, went to Russian consumers.

Wine trade ruined

In Georgia and Moldova, already two of the poorest countries in the former Soviet Union, wine-makers saw their trade devastated.

Russia says some Georgian wine has been contaminated

Intensive negotiations between the Moldovan and Russian leaderships saw a pledge to end the ban on Moldovan wine.

The first consignments are now expected in late January or February.

The ban on Georgian wine, and other agricultural products, remains very much in place, however.

It once accounted for a tenth of all wine sold in Russia, especially at the cheaper end of the spectrum.

The economic impact on Russian retailers seems to have been limited.

In an effort to counter the blow to Georgia's economy, the Georgian leadership has organised wine exhibitions in other countries, mainly Ukraine and Eastern Europe.

Critics of Russia's actions also ask whether it is purely a coincidence that the targeted countries all have deep political disputes with Russia

In Ukraine, sales of Georgian wine did increase sharply.

But when it comes to the prized Western European market, there has been no breakthrough.

While both Georgian and Moldovan wine can be found in Berlin, Paris or London, the brands remain largely unknown.

The EU has repeatedly criticised the ban on Polish meat imports, and called on Russia to explain the reasons for its actions.

A number of the EU's top veterinary experts say Poland has taken significant measures to improve animal husbandry since accession, and that Polish standards are now often much higher than in Russia itself.

All the same, Russia insists that the bans were imposed due to genuine health concerns, and rejects the notion of economic sanctions.

It points to a simmering dispute, which has lasted several years now and repeatedly involved the imposition, then relaxation, of import bans, over the safety of American chicken imports.

Political disputes

Yet until the restrictions started, Rospotrebnadzor was a largely unknown government agency, and certainly not one with an aggressive public profile.

Critics of Russia's actions also ask whether it is purely a coincidence that the targeted countries all have deep political disputes with Russia.

In the case of imports of Belarusian sugar, used extensively in the Russian confectionery industry, the Russian authorities stopped issuing customs documents needed to bring the commodity into Russia on 1 January.

This was amid a tense dispute over energy prices and transit tariffs.

Belarusian sugar beet is not subject to Russian customs duties, but Moscow has alleged that Belarus was sending sugar cane from Latin America to Russia under the guise of home-grown beet as a way of avoiding the duties that have to be paid on it.

Domestic sugar producers in Russia have lobbied hard to have the restrictions on imports of Belarusian sugar beet maintained.

The Russian Prime Minister, Mikhail Fradkov, now says an agreement is close but that stringent quotas will inevitably be involved.