Baltic countries and Ukraine impose embargo on beef imports from Poland

Latvia, Estonia and Ukraine on Tuesday imposed an embargo on the imports of beef from Poland. On Monday a similar decision had been taken by Lithuania. The ban follows an instance of mad cow disease reported from Poland. Warsaw, which had reacted in the same way to such cases before, received these measures calmly, especially since beef imports to those countries was insignificant. At the same time Poland's Ministry of Agriculture received with satisfaction the news that Russia clamped only partial restrictions on the assortment imported. In particular, banned are bone-in beef, mutton, byproducts (except the heart, liver and kidneys), and other raw products from ruminant animals. Russia is the biggest buyer of Polish meat in Eastern Europe. Last year Poland supplied to it 160,000 tons of meat, including 20,000 tons of beef. The Baltic countries, whose annual imports from Poland did not exceed hundreds of tons, imposed the embargo on deliveries of live ruminants, raw and processed meat, as well as animal components for mixed feeds. Ukraine, its deputy chief veterinary officer Nikolai Patsyuk said, had imported beef from Poland in minimum quantities. As for live animals, Ukraine has not bought any in Poland in recent years, according to him.