August 27, 2010

Russia bans beef from US JBS plant

Russia suspended beef imports from JBS Swift's beef plant in Grand Island, Nebraska, due to a "pathogen issue", a company spokesman said Thursday (Aug 26).

The suspension, which becomes effective from September 8, was announced by the USDA on Wednesday. The department, however, had not given a reason for the import halt. Russia is still accepting beef from other US plants.

The JBS spokesman said the suspension was not related to US beef exports to Russia nearing the 21,700-tonne annual quota limit as some analysts had speculated.

JBS-Swift is a unit of Brazilian meat giant JBS SA.

The tariff on US beef shipped beneath quota is 15%, but increases to 50% beyond the quota.

Russia is expected to buy a record amount of US beef this year largely because of tight supplies in traditional suppliers like Australia and South America, industry sources said.