Poland has asked the European Commission to send a formal complaint to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over the Russian ban on imported EU food products that has hit Poland particularly hard, the Polish Economy Ministry said yesterday.
So far the Commission been cautious about taking the embargo case to the WTO, with lawyers in Brussels advising it could escalate a trade conflict with Russia over Ukraine.
On 7 August, Russia banned the import of EU food products, including fruit and vegetables from Poland. Poland’s total food exports to Russia are worth around €1.13 billion per year. As the EU’s second biggest apple producer, Poland is now stuck with some 700,000 tonnes of the fruit it usually sells to Russia.
The ban was imposed in response to Western economic sanctions against Russia, over its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, and a pro-Russian rebellion in eastern Ukraine, which Western capitals accuse Moscow of fomenting.
Poland’s economy ministry told the news agency Reuters it had sent the request to European Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht, who represents EU members in all WTO cases. (more)
Read the whole story: http://www.euractiv.com/sections/social-europe-jobs/poland-wants-eu-complain-wto-over-russian-embargo-307859
Source: EurActiv