Russian watchdog stands by bans on US meat imports

Russia's farm produce watchdog said it will not yield to US attempts to make it lift health-related import bans on meat imports, saying the measures stem from real safety concerns, not politics.

 

Sergei Dankvert, head of the Rosselkhoznadzor watchdog, said on Tuesday (May 26) that meat trade issues between Russia and the US should be resolved by business people and veterinarians, not politicians.

 

Russia is the largest export market for the US poultry industry and a major importer of pork and beef. It has banned all meat imports from several US states on concerns related to the AH1N1 flu virus, commonly known as swine flu.

 

US trade representative Ron Kirk said US wanted to boost meat trade through tougher enforcement of trade agreements and vowed to work to lift technical barriers curbing its exports.

 

Rosselkhoznadzor, together with the Russian poultry market lobby, plans to discuss issues of US meat safety guarantees with producers and veterinarians at an annual meeting of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) in Paris this week.

 

Several countries have banned meat imports since the outbreak of AH1N1 flu, even though the virus has not been spread by hogs and pork.

 

As well as the recent round of bans, Moscow has limited meat imports from several US plants in recent years, on the basis they do not conform to Russian safety standards.

 

US producers have said their meat is safe and linked the bans to political reasons and attempts by Moscow to raise its own production.