April 9, 2007

Russia could start importing only boiled meat from Brazil

Russia could stop importing raw pork and beef from Brazil in mid-April and start importing only boiled meat, Sergei Dankvert, head of the Federal Veterinary and Phytosanitary Control Service (Rosselkhoznadzor), told Interfax.

Russia is doing so as the term of Russian veterinary specialists working in Brazil to control shipments of raw meat to Russia expires in the middle of April, and an official invitation for a new group has not been received, an official said. 

The Russian specialists are working in Brazil because Rosselkhoznadzor feel current systems of control for meat imports could not guarantee safety,  because of the frequency of foot-and-mouth disease in the country.

However, Russia has chosen not to opt for a complete ban so as not to shut down trade completely with "a large partner like Brazil".

Brazil is one of the leading suppliers of meat products to Russia, accounting for 40 percent of the beef Russia imported in 2006, according to The Agrarian Market Affairs Institute (IKAR). Meanwhile pork from Brazil accounted for nearly 37 percent of the country's imports.

Brazil accounts for 15 percent of Russian poultry import market, second to the US, which accounts for 72 percent.