Russia urged to alter poultry import policy

Russia should import only whole chickens from Argentina, not parts, in order to protect the domestic broiler industry, said Dmitry Aveltsoy, general director of ZAO Stavropolsky Broiler.

Argentina's poultry producers should be allowed to export only whole chickens to Russia to provide fair competition in the Russian market, said Aveltsoy.

Aveltsoy said Russia's poultry industry may be hurt if Argentine supplies chicken parts at dumping prices. The chicken parts were exported at low prices as a byproduct of breast meat, which had a negative impact on domestic poultry sales, said Aveltsoy.

Last year, Argentina proposed to supply 36,000 tonnes of poultry and poultry products per year to Russia. Sergey Dankvert, the head of Federal Agency for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision (Rosselkhoznadzor), said the proposal would be examined.