The hope that the Russian market will reopen for European pork in the foreseeable future has long since been given up. Nevertheless, the World Trade Organization (WTO) is still working on the alleged trade boycott and official clarity is expected within 6 weeks.
In a memo sent internally, the WTO, which oversees trade disputes, has informed its members that the final report will be published before February 23, 2017. In August last year, the WTO concluded that the import ban, which Russia applies against the import of European pork, does not comply with the rules of the World Trade Organization and is therefore illegal.
Officially, the Russian borders are closed for sanitary and phytosanitary reasons, but there are suspicions that it is mainly a political issue, due to dissatisfaction with Crimea. That is why the WTO has taken action to denounce these measures. In the first report, the WTO therefore alluded to an adjustment of Russia's boycott positions. However, these were parried by Russia through an appeal at the end of September. So now WTO will come with a final verdict before March. It is estimated that the European pig sector has lost some 1,4 billion euros in trade value due to the trade war with Russia.
Incidentally, the relationship between Europe and Russia has not improved. This week, European and American soldiers have been sent to the Polish border with Russia to proverbially show their teeth to Russia. This is because Russia has recently placed missiles that can be equipped with nuclear payloads. This is of course not good for the recovery of the trade relationship.
That pig production in Russia has been increasing since the boycott is confirmed by the growing pig population. In the last 8 years, the pig herd in Russia has grown by 5 million pigs. Russia has been experiencing strong growth, especially in recent years. The objective of the Russians is to be self-sufficient in the foreseeable future.
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