February 13, 2006

Russia lifts ban on German and French pedigree cattle

In USDA's latest report on the Russian Federation released Feb 3, Russia lifted the ban on imports of German and French pedigree cattle on Feb 1. The five-year ban was imposed after outbreaks of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) were reported in Europe.

According to Minister of Agriculture Aleksey Gordeyev, the ban will lifted step by step, starting with Bavaria and then on to Germany and France.

In addition, Russia has established measures such as requiring all imported cattle to be less than 30 months of age to protect the Russian territory from BSE. All imported cattle must be identified and registered by Russian veterinary officials.

The relocation of imported cattle will also be under stringent control by all the local Russian veterinary services. Furthermore, only certified meat processing plants are allowed to carry out slaughtering of imported cattle. 

USDA said the lifting of the ban was due to Russia's aim to increase domestic production of livestock with 100,000 head of genetically superior livestock from other countries in 2006-07.

For the full USDA report, click here.