Meat industry appeals to PM to fight Russian pork ban
PR dla Zagranicy
Peter Gentle
11.02.2014 09:03
Polish pork producers have written an open letter to Prime Minister Tusk calling for action to reverse a Russian ban on EU pork products, as plants lay off workers.
photo - Glow Images / East News
"Unfortunately, we are already seeing worrying signs coming from the industry. Some plants have already laid off workers and others are putting employees on forced leave ," chairman of the Polish Meat Union Witold Choiński has told Polish Radio.
Russia blocked pork products coming into the country from the EU after a case of swine fever was detected in wild boars in Lithuania in January.
Russia buys about a quarter of the EU's annual pork exports and Poland sells around 85,000 tonnes of pork to Russia and other Customs Union countries, worth around 200 million euros, annually.
EU Health Commissioner Tonio Borg called the Russian pork ban "disproportionate". (pg)