Russia and US to hold poultry talks

Moscow and Washington will hold talks in mid-January to solve a dispute over US poultry imports.

Russia effectively blocked US poultry imports beginning January 1 with a new regulation prohibiting chlorine as an antimicrobial treatment in poultry production.

Washington said the measure would severely hurt the US poultry industry and trade, and raise the costs of poultry products for Russian consumers.

Russia's chief sanitary official Gennady Onishchenko said he hoped a compromise would be found at talks in Moscow. An American delegation will arrive on January 17 to solve the problem on an expert level, he said.

Analysts have said large US poultry imports to Russia have often become hostage of chilly political relations between the two countries.

The US supplies more than one-sixth of Russian poultry consumption, or 600,000 tonnes, Onishchenko said, adding that the US knew about Russian plans to proceed with new regulations since 1994.

As with the EU, Russia disapproves with the use of chlorine treatment but the US argued that scientific evidence showed that chlorine is a safe and effective disinfectant for use in poultry.

Onishchenko said the January 17 talks would involve shipments of US poultry, which is already en route to Russian ports on the Baltic Sea. US poultry imports would be cleared if it is a reasonable amount that does not account to semi-annual or annual stockpiles, he said.

US officials have said some 30,000 tonnes of poultry are already en route to Russia.