(WARSAW) - Russian experts Tuesday kicked off inspections of Poland's food industry, but the move was unrelated to a bitter meat trade dispute that has hit Russian-EU ties, veterinary authorities said here.

"This is a routine visit to food industry factories and has no link to the embargo by Russia on Polish meat," Ewa Lech, head of Poland's veterinary service, told AFP.

In November 2005 Russia imposed an embargo on imports of raw meat and carcasses from Poland, alleging that Poland's application of veterinary control standards on the Polish side.

Poland, which claimed that the ban was groundless and purely political, responded by blocking the start of crucial talks between the rest of the 27-nation EU and Russia to renew a decade-old partnership and cooperation agreement.

"The Russian inspectors will spend around two weeks in Poland visiting around 20 dairies, and fodder and meat factories, which are not affected by the embargo," Lech said.

Warsaw has demanded that the ban be lifted unconditionally, but Russian officials have regular appeared to sow confusion about alleged Polish concessions.

Last week, Russia's veterinary service had claimed that Poland had agreed to allow Russian specialists to inspect its meat exports, under an agreement between Moscow, Warsaw and the European Union.

Polish liberal politician Donald Tusk, who is poised to become prime minister after beating Warsaw's ruling conservatives in parliamentary elections last month, has raised hopes of a possible breakthrough in the dispute after signalling a desire for closer ties with both Brussels and Moscow.

The wide ranging EU-Russia accord being blocked by Warsaw because of the meat dispute is seen as particularly important for the EU because it will include provisions for energy relations.

The EU relies heavily on Russian oil and gas imports, but Poland has argued that the bloc should not kowtow to Moscow's clout given that Russia is not playing fair in other trade areas.

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