The World Trade Organization (WTO) Thursday notified the European Commission with its ruling on Russia's EU pork trade ban, a source close to the case said.

The WTO has decided to secretly announce its verdict on Russia's 2014 trade ban on European port. Therefore, the decision was only told to Russia and the EU privately on the same day, according to media EU Trade Insights.

The WTO panel report will remain confidential until it's approved by the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body within 60 days. Only after its formal adoption will the panel report be made public.

In January 2014, Russia completely shut off its market to European exports of live pigs and pork, owing to fears of an African swine fever outbreak in Lithuania and Poland. This left the EU pork exporters with a massive oversupply of pork and bereft of a key market.

Before the ban, the value of EU pork exports to Russia exceeded 1.4 billion euros (1.55 billion US dollars).

On June 30, 2014, the EU opted for litigation under the WTO's dispute settlement procedure against Russia's pork ban. The move came after the 60-day formal consultations between the EU and Russia under the WTO dispute settlement mechanism failed to yield any results.