Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Question 402: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food if she has made representations to the Russian authorities regarding Russia's possible ban on EU meat; if she has assessed the impact of this policy on agriculture here; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40591/06]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The Russian Federation has written to the EU Commission expressing concern about the status of animal products from Romania and Bulgaria once these States have joined the EU. It has asked the EU Commission to inform it of the animal products which will be allowed to be exported to it from these countries and the phyto-sanitary requirements which will apply them. It has also asked the EU to arrange a joint inspection of premises to be approved for export, before 1 January 2007. Otherwise it has threatened to suspend trade in animal products between Russia and the EU.

EU veterinary officials will travel to Moscow this week to explain the transitional veterinary and food safety measures that will be applied in Romania and Bulgaria from 1 January 2007. It is hoped that this will avert the threatened Russian ban on imports of animal products from the EU.

The Russian Federation has not expressed any concerns about Irish meat which meets all the veterinary requirements for export there. While the focus for our beef and pigmeat exports in recent years has been the EU market, Ireland continues to have a good level of trade in beef and pigmeat with Russia where we exported in the order of 28,000 tonnes of beef and 5,000 tonnes of pigmeat last year.