May 30, 2008. /Lesprom.com/. Estonia's minister of foreign affairs has urged the European community to focus on trade, energy and customs affairs in forthcoming discussions with Russia, www.km.ee reported. Urmas Paet, speaking after European foreign minsters met to discuss the terms of reference for EU-Russia treaty negotiations, said the issue of trade was important. For Estonia, he explained in reports in the Baltic Course, border policy and the issue of tariffs on timber were significant, with free trade a key point. Mr Paet said customs and energy were the priorities for Estonia – with the relaxation of timber levies one of the chief goals. Russia has adopted prohibitive tariffs for timber trade coming through its borders, despite opposition from the industry, which has seen imports from a range of countries banned.