June 3, 2014
 

Russia imposes temporary ban on beef from Ireland

Russian veterinary watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor has placed a temporary ban on imports of beef from Ireland after local producers failed to meet the veterinary requirements of the Customs Union, Rosselkhoznadzor reports.

"In connection with a failure to meet the animal health requirements and standards of the Customs Union and Russia, Rosselkhoznadzor has imposed temporary restrictions on deliveries from 12 inspected facilities and has also denied a request from two other companies for permission to import goods, because of their inability to fulfil these requirements," said Rosselkhoznadzor's press secretary Alexei Alexeenko.

Rosselkhoznadzor had previously inspected the 14 Irish companies interested in supplying their products, mostly beef, to the Customs Union. According to information from Rosselkhoznadzor, Ireland has traditionally exported agricultural products to Russia - especially pork, beef and live cattle.

According to the Federal Customs Service of Russia, in 2013, imports of meat and meat offal from Ireland to Russia amounted to US$93 million or 29,000 tonnes, including approximately 10,000 tonnes of beef.

Despite the fact that Ireland only exports a small amount of beef to Russia, the new ban is expected to add tension in the Russian market, as beef is already in short supply.

"In recent months, beef has become a very expensive product in Russia. In particular, we have a shortage of frozen raw material, following the ban on imports from Australia in early March. This whole situation has inflated prices for such products, which is leading to dissatisfaction among consumers," said Russian agricultural analyst Eugene Gerden.

"However, we have noticed an increase in investment activity among Russian businessmen, who are starting to consider beef production as an attractive proposition, given the background of falling profitability in poultry and pig production. That said, investment in beef production is still a risky business, because it is unclear what will happen with all these various bans, and therefore what the prices and the market itself will look like in the short term," he added.

Russian authorities have repeatedly claimed their intention is to increase imports of deficit meat products from alternative suppliers, and have recently banned cattle imports found to contain ractopamine.

"First of all, it's South America - Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Mexico - and the US in part, if they ever solve the problem of preventing the use of the growth stimulant ractopamine in cattle, which is banned in Russia and the Customs Union," said Sergey Yushin, chairman of the executive committee of the National Meat Association.

Considering the current political situation, the prospects for European meat exports to Russia are rather dim, as it is clear Russia is taking action to reach self-sufficiency in meat, while at the same time importing more meat products from "friendly nations", which are not participating in any sanctions against the country.