Rospotrebnadzor chief ready to meet with Tbilisi delegation on Jan 28 or Feb 4
MOSCOW. Jan 22 (Interfax) - Russian and Georgian officials could meet in Moscow at the end of January or at the beginning of February to discuss the possibility of resuming Georgian wine and mineral water exports to the Russian market, Gennady Onishchenko, the head of the consumer rights watchdog Rospotrebnadzor and Russia's chief epidemiologist, told Interfax on Tuesday.
"I offered two tentative dates on which I will be able to meet with them - January 28 or February 4," he said.
"If the list of the delegation's members, which we received informally, is confirmed by Georgia officially, I will ask the Foreign Ministry to issue visas to them," Onishchenko said.
"We are ready to meet with them to discuss the whole range of problems," he said.
Onishchenko told Interfax on January 14 that he had been informed of the possible composition of Georgia's delegation.
"It is quite competent, judging by its members. Three members are government officials who, we understand, have the mandate to answer our questions," he said.
Onishchenko did not say when Georgian wine and mineral water exports to Russia could resume. Georgian representatives said they hoped to restart exports in March.
"I know nothing about Georgia's plans. We made our position clear a long time ago, making no secret of it, which is important for taking these steps after all. We have been talking about this so long that we will soon stop believing all this is feasible," he said.
"We will wait and see. We were prepared to discuss this issue in the same context back in 2009. It's January 2013 now," Onishchenko said.
Georgian wine and mineral water exports to Russia were suspended in 2006 amid tensions in Russian-Georgian relations. The official reason cited was low quality of Georgia wines.
Russia and Georgia ruptured diplomatic relations.
Onishchenko said in mid-September that Georgia had made serious steps to improve the quality of wines. He also announced in December that Georgian wine exports could resume in 2013 and that requests have arrived from 30 Georgian firms.
"We are prepared for talks with Georgian producers here, but we must inspect wineries in Georgia. If we are satisfied we will propose registration of new products. If everything goes well, trade will begin and we will exercise control over the shipments," he said.
Georgian Agriculture Minister David Kirvalidze announced his country's readiness to meet all appropriate World Trade Organization (WTO) standards and Russian requirements in order to be able to restart exports of its products to the Russian market.