AGRICULTURE MINISTERS REACH UNANIMOUS AGREEMENT ON FOOD AID TO RUSSIA.

The EU Farm Ministers meeting in Council in Brussels on December 14 reached a unanimous political agreement on the European Commission's December 9 proposal for a Regulation to provide an ECU 400 million food aid package to Russia. It has been agreed that the aid will distributed amongst 40 of Russia's 89 regions and will be sent out in instalments. The Commission stressed that it will be impossible for it to check the whole operation and admitted that there were potential risks. But to help keep tabs on the distribution of the 1 million tonnes of wheat, 500,000 tonnes of rye, 50,000 tonnes of rice, 150,000 tonnes of beef, 100,000 tonnes of pork, and 50,000 tonnes of skimmed milk powder, each beneficiary region will be issued a monthly list detailing the amounts of each product that should...