Russia lifts ban on EU meat until October 1

Russia has lifted a ban on meat imports from the European Union until October 1, setting a new deadline for the 25-nation bloc to reach agreement with Moscow on food safety certificates.
"A decision was taken that a (new) single veterinary certificate will be signed to become effective from October 1," an Agriculture Ministry statement said on Monday.
Earlier on Monday a veterinary official said imports, suspended from June 1, had been restored from June 5.
"We have started accepting (EU meat) shipments from June 5, following an order from the Agriculture Ministry," the official, who declined to be named, told Reuters.
A European Commission spokesman said Brussels expected to get written confirmation that the ban had effectively been lifted from Russian authorities later in the day.
"Informally, we've heard that Russian inspectors in EU member states have started counter-signing exports.
The ban will be re-introduced from October 1 if there is no new (EU-Russia veterinary) agreement," he added.
On Friday the European Commission said the ban could soon be lifted after Commission President Romano Prodi had spoken to Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov.
Russia had warned the EU it wanted a single food safety certificate to cover all EU meat imports, which are worth 1.3 billion euros a year to European producers, before barring them from June 1.
Under EU law, each member state is responsible for certifying the safety of food exports - provided they respect EU rules. Russia has bilateral deals with the 15 old EU members.
Brussels is responsible for checking the safety of food imports into the 25-nation bloc, but it does not have the power to issue a common certificate for food exports.
"We understand that the European Union has objective difficulties of both legislative and technical character, and that the European Commission will need a transition period," the Agriculture Ministry statement said.
"During talks between the government of the Russian Federation and the leadership of the European Commission Russia insisted that the period should be short."
EU officials have said it had taken Russia and Germany three years to reach a bilateral agreement because of the technical complexity.
Russia has already restricted imports of red meat and poultry meat by quotas.