August 19, 2010

Russia lifts ban on Smithfield pork plants; bans more

Russia has reinstated Smithfield Foods' Tar Heel and Clinton, North Carolina, pork plants as eligible exporters, according to reports.

However, after August 26, Smithfield's Farmland Foods facilities in Milan, Missouri, and Denison, Iowa will no longer be eligible to export to Russia.

Russia banned pork shipments from Smithfield's Tar Heel and Clinton plants in late July and early August, respectively. A government source said at the time that USDA believed the problem resulted from a misreading of certificate provisions.

Meanwhile, Moscow also suspended Seaboard's Guymon, Oklahoma, plant last month. These establishments had been re-listed as eligible exporters to Russia in March.

They were among a list of US pork exporters banned by Russia based on what that country called protocol violations discovered during a previous industry-wide audit.