OREANDA-NEWS. May 21, 2012. Belarus has pledged to lift restrictions on supplies of Ukrainian beer on condition that Ukraine eases restrictions on imports of Belarusian meat and dairy products. The parties succeeded in reaching a consensus on lifting mutual trade restrictions following the latest visit of Ukraine’s Minister for Trade and Economic Development Petr Poroshenko to Minsk.

“Today we have resolved the beer issue, with a just a few technical matters left to be settled,” Belarus’ Vice Premier Vladimir Semashko said following the meeting with the Ukrainian delegation.

In turn, Ukraine has decided to reopen its market for ten Belarusian producers of meat and dairy products, Poroshenko informed.

As previously reported, Belarus introduced the restrictions in late 2010 due to dumping prices set by Ukrainian manufacturers. Back then the Cabinet of Ministers of Belarus adopted a resolution introducing beer import licences and a minimum price threshold for imported Ukrainian beer. As a result, Ukraine’s beer sales in Belarus shrank from USD 18 million in 2010 to USD 6 million in 2011.

In the meantime, on March 1 Ukraine temporarily banned imports of cattle and meat products from Belarus for fear of spreading African swine fever.

Furthermore, Ukraine suspended dairy imports from Belarus following numerous violations of Ukraine’s veterinary and sanitary requirements for permitted maximum residue levels of veterinary medications by Belarusian dairy producers.