February 3, 2009
Russia to revise export certificate for US pork imports
Russia's food safety watchdog wants to revise the veterinary certificate for pork imports from the US as quickly as possible, and introduce a new one on June 1.
Until then, pork and raw pork products from the US will be imported under tighter laboratory control, a source at the Veterinary and Phyto-Sanitary Oversight Service said.
The proposal was made after US officials, during a recent video conference between the Russian regulator and USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), said the US had not assumed the obligation to fulfil Russian veterinary health requirements in pork shipments to Russia, the source said.
The current veterinary certificate, introduced in November 2006, does not stipulate that those requirements must be fulfilled.
USDA announced last week that Russia halted pork imports from some major US pork processing plants and cold storage facilities due to export certificate errors.
