The European Union is threatening to take Russia to court at
the World Trade Organization over its ban on pork.
The Russians banned pork imports from the entire European
Union on the basis that African Swine Fever in Lithuania might spread to
Poland.
Russia has been actively banning imports of beef and pork
from many countries, often on a flimsy basis.
For example, it has banned pork and beef imports from
Canada, the United States and other countries that allow the use of ractopamine
growth promotant to improve profit margins.
It has banned U.S. beef from cattle fed Zilmax, a ban that
is academic now that the drug maker, Merck, has taken Zilmax off the market.
Ever since the Uruguay Round of World Trade Negotiations
resulted in a deal to curb agriculture subsidies and import protections, Russia
and many other countries have used SPS (sanitary and phytosanitary) standards
to block imports.
In the current Doha Round of negotiations, there are
proposals to make SPS standards less political and to require them to be based
on internationally-recognized science.
The Doha Round is, however, stalled after more than a decade
of negotiations.
