Russia has threatened to ban all Dairy exports from Poland unless its producers adhere fully to their veterinary procedures, resulting in old tensions between the two nations flaring up once more.
“We have received a warning letter from Russia about our dairy production”, confirmed Dr Kristov Yavdarsky of the Polish Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The warning has echoes of similar threats made last year by Russia, which by November had led to bans of both Polish meat and vegetable exports into the country.
The news will come a further blow to Polish agriculture, which has been working with new trade partners to make up the 8 per cent gap in its meat and vegetable industry, that has been left vacated by Russian consumers.
Before the bans were put in place, it was estimated that agricultural exports from Poland to Russia totaled around €347m annually.
While Dairy exports may only make a fraction of this figure; Poland is keen not to lose any more key markets from its neighbor.
Around 35 dairy's currently concur with Russia's vetinary protocols, but there are still many others, which do not have approval from the Kremlin and this it appears, is what has caused them concern.
Dr Yavdavsky admitted that the Polish government would look to work with the Russians over a resolve for this issue, though there could be difficulties ahead.
“The Russian federation authority generally wants us to impose border inspections on our dairy exports. While we currently operate this system on imports, to check exports as well would mean a lot of extra work for our officials and that could be a problem,” he said.
With Russia and Ukraine the only nations having imposed these bans so far, some commentators have questioned that the motives for this new threat are perhaps more influenced by politics then food safety.
Following the meat ban last year, EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson expressed concern with Russia's policy to wards Poland.
“I am in close touch with the new Polish government about the dispute that has arisen concerning meat exports. We have taken action in the past and there will be scope for us to take action in the future.” He said in an interview with UK paper, The Financial Times
Despite taking measures to avoid the ban however, Dr Yavdavsky believes that the threat from Russia alone may already be damaging the country's exports.
“It is an uncomfortable situation for Polish Agriculture, while the meat ban wasn't so bad in the end, dairy production is a very important industry for us, and I fear its reputation has already been affected, even without sales being blocked.”
