Department of Agricultural officials met with Russian authorities in Moscow on Thursday. However, little advancement was made in opening back up the Russian market to Irish agricultural produce.

Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney said there was “constructive dialogue between both sides and progressed a number of key issues”.

The meeting focused on the Department’s response to the interim report on the audit findings received from the Russian authorities earlier this year. The comprehensive response from the Department incorporating the corrective actions for each establishment visited have been submitted in full and the Russian side confirmed at the meeting that the final report will issue before the end of this month.

Commenting on this the Minister said “the confirmation that the final report will arrive before the end of the month was very welcome and gives us a solid basis for resolving these issues. We will prioritise our response to the final report with a view to having the temporary restrictions lifted on the affected dairy, beef and seafood plants as soon as possible”.

On other issues, there was progress on agreeing a bilateral protocol on exports of live cattle and bovine semen so that this trade can re-commence. The Irish side had submitted draft protocols in advance which the Russian side will examine with a view to facilitating the re-opening of this trade. The Russian side expressed strong enthusiasm to engage with Irish providers of technologies in areas such as breeding and genetics and both sides will now follow this up.

The Russian side also raised the issue of electronic certification which they are keen to pursue bilaterally with EU Member States. Ireland agreed to explore this matter further and to provide information on our existing electronic certification procedures.

The meeting concluded with a proposal by both sides to meet again in January.

Ireland’s agri-food trade to Russia in 2013 was worth €235m. Our largest trade was pigmeat which was worth €59m in 2013 but which has been affected by an EU-wide ban on all pork products entering Russia since January 2014.