September 12, 2006

Russia halts poultry import from two US states on bird flu fears

Russia's food quality watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor imposed a temporary ban on poultry imports from the US states of Pennsylvania and Maryland as of Sep 8 because of cases of H5N1 bird flu reported there, Rosselkhoznadzor announced Monday (Sep 11).

In 2005, US exported to Russia 742,390 tonnes of poultry worth some US$600 million.