Latvia trims fat from pork imports

  • 1999-01-07
  • Steven C. Johnson
RIGA - In an attempt to balance free trade with protecting local producers, the Latvian government submitted to the Parliament a plan that would restrict pork imports from its Baltic neighbors.

But the news elicited strong criticism from Estonia, which accused its southern neighbor of violating the Baltic Free Trade Agreement.

The Estonian Foreign Ministry sent a note to Riga Dec. 30 that criticized the pork quotas and said it was a departure from Riga's commitment to the Baltic Free Trade Agreement, which the three countries signed in 1995.

And ex-Foreign Minister Toomas Hendrik Ilves called the decision "a big mistake" that could prove damaging to Latvia's EU aspirations.

"It's perfectly clear that all kinds of additional restrictions to European Union member nations and candidate countries are harmful," Ilves told the Baltic News Agency. "This is a wrong line to take from the point of view of Latvia's own interests."

The Latvian cabinet of ministers decided Dec. 29 to support import quotas of 45 tons of pork and 13 tons of live pigs per month for Estonia and seven tons of pork and 22 tons of pigs per month for Lithuania. Any imports that exceed the quotas will be subject to tariffs equal to 42 percent of the price of the goods, said Aiga Smiltane, director of the Latvian Agriculture Ministry's market policy department.

The proposal must be approved by the Latvian Parliament before it becomes law. Acting Agriculture Minister Vents Balodis said the decision should be made by mid-January.

And Riga has pointed out that the Free Trade Agreement between the Baltics allows for restrictive measures when there is a severe negative effect on one country's domestic market.

"We have not violated any laws or agreements, we are not against free trade, but we have to coordinate our policies so that we can protect our own markets," said Toms Baumanis, spokesman for the Latvian Foreign Ministry.

The crisis stems from overproduction of pork and the dried up Russian market, said Tauno Lukas, chief specialist at the Estonian Agriculture Ministry's foreign trade department.

The result has been a surge of cheap Estonian pork entering the market and cutting into local producers' profits.