Russia imported 95,300 tonnes of poultry in the first five months of the year, down sharply compared with 308,400 tonnes exported in the same period of 2009, the federal customs service said Wednesday (July 7).

All the poultry was imported from countries outside the Commonwealth of Independent States, at a total value of US$140.1 million, compared with US$334.7 million a year earlier.

The fall in imports is due to the fact that Russia has halted imports from the US because in the US poultry meat is treated with chlorine, which is against Russian food safety regulations.

Before Russia placed the ban on US poultry, it had been the largest importer of US chicken. However, the ban on US poultry meat has been lifted after talks between the presidents of both countries.