August 20, 2013
US and Russia to hold new talks over opening meat trade
The US and Russia will hold further talks on permitting US meat and poultry products into the Russian market which have been closed to these imports due to concerns over the use of the beta-agonist ractopamine.
New discussions have been scheduled for August 21.
During a session between Rosselkhoznador and USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) last week, the Russian delegation expressed concerns that the US has yet to take sufficient action to guarantee that meat and poultry exports would not be contaminated with ractopamine or other illegal drugs.
Rosselkhoznador is also concerned that inspections and sampling are left to exporting companies and are not being conducted by FSIS. The veterinary authority has demanded for a programme which will verify that livestock are not fed with feed containing ractopamine or other beta-agonists. Such initiative has been set up by the US in response to the issue.
