October 4, 2010

US, Russia settle solution on poultry plant inspections

The US and Russia have reached an agreement under which Russian inspectors will inspect all types of US poultry plants in early October to see whether they meet specified criteria for shipment to Russia.

Four teams of Russian inspectors will visit 33 facilities in early October, which include 30 slaughter facilities and three cold-storage facilities. Many of these plants have not yet been designated by the USDA as plants that are cleared to process poultry in accordance with Russian standards.

This round of inspections appears to contradict the terms of the bilateral poultry deal reached last summer. That deal stipulated that if USDA approved a plant for export to Russia, Russia must accept poultry from that plant without being allowed to inspect it prior to export.

After the bilateral deal was reached, Russia demanded that it inspect all USDA-approved plants before they could ship. This latest arrangement represents a final compromise that allows Russia to accept some plants that are not approved by USDA for export to Russia and plants that are approved and in the process of shipping to Russia.

Russia will now be able to approve new plants as eligible for export based on its own data and information collected during the upcoming inspections instead of relying solely on the US to provide a list of plants that were certified based on USDA data and inspections, sources said.

One industry source said the US was able to agree to this compromise deal because Russia will continue to allow imports of poultry from approved plants as the process is underway.

This source said it is US policy to delay adding new plants to the list until it is certain that Russia is accepting shipments of US poultry and after the upcoming audits of plants by Russian inspectors. Once trade normalises, this source said Russia may accept the new plants faster and more willingly.

Sergei Dankvert, head of the Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (VPSS), had said in August that he wanted to inspect US plants that wanted to ship to Russia, but up to this point these inspections have not materialised, sources said.

Russia's list of companies that have plants listed for inspection include Pilgrim's Pride, Tyson Foods, OK Foods, Wayne Farms, Beverley Processing, Cloverleaf Cold Storage, Burris Retail Logistics, Koch Foods, Mar-Jac Poultry, Harrison Poultry, D.L. Lee and Sons, Equity Group-Kentucky Division, Butterball and Amick Farms.

Of the 33 plants, 23 are not yet on the USDA list of approved plants, which was last updated on August 4. Nine are approved by Russia for export, 14 are banned and 10 are not on the Russian list of plants.