During the Russia-EU summit held in Mafra, Portugal on October 26, the Russian Federation's Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Elvira Nabiullina, and the European Union (EU) Trade Commissar, Peter Mandelson, signed a new quota agreement regulating supplies of certain steel products from Russia to the EU in 2007 and 2008.
According to the agreement, the EU quota for Russian steel products has been increased to 2.904 million metric tons for 2007 and to 3.031 million metric tons for 2008, up from 2.27 for 2006.
The increase in the EU quota level for Russian steel imports has been made in light of the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the EU at the start of the current year.
The EU steel quota for Russian steel products will be totally eliminated upon Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO).