Rusland zou bereid zijn tot opheffing importverbod op Europees vlees (en)

The European Union and Russia are close to reaching a deal on veterinary certificates, hoping to end the row over meat imports, which peaked in June when Moscow blocked meat exports from the EU.

Emergency talks were held in the aftermath of the row and a new deadline for reaching an agreement was set for the end of September.

These talks have continued through the summer and an agreement could be reached by today (2 September), a diplomat told EUobserver.

The main reason for the tension was that Russia refused to accept national veterinary certificates and demanded a harmonised EU certificate.

The EU has in principle agreed with the idea of harmonising veterinary certificates and they should come into force from the beginning of the next year, concluded the source.

Today, the EU commissioner for health and consumer protection David Byrne and Dutch agriculture minister Cees Verman will fly to Moscow to meet the Russian agriculture minister Alexei Gordeyev.

According to the FT, they will also seek assurances from Russian authorities that, in the event of a health scare, a meat ban would only apply to products from the country or region affected, not the whole EU.