May 23, 2009

US Trade Representative Ron Kirk on Friday (May 23) said he will use a June meeting in St. Petersburg to press Russia to lift restrictions on US exports of pork and pork products.

"One problem facing US pork exports to Russia is Russia's application of sanitary and phytosanitary measures that are not based on international standards," Kirk told a Washington meeting of the US Meat Export Federation.

"These SPS measures are used to control and restrict trade," he said.

Russia is one of more than a dozen countries that have banned pork exports from the US, in the wake of the outbreak of the AH1N1 virus in humans. Other countries with restrictions on US pork include China, Ukraine, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates.

Kirk will be attending the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which is being held June 4-6.

Kirk and other Obama administration have been urging trading partners to lift the bans, saying that US pork products and live swine are safe and that there is no scientific justification for the restrictions.

He said if the bans continue, US pork producers could lose as much as US$900 million in exports annually.

US exports of meat and livestock to Russia have grown ten-fold in the past four years, reaching US$560 million in 2008, according to data from the USDA.