October 19, 2007

Russia prepares to resume beef imports from US

Russia is just about ready to once again begin importing US beef and trade could resume as early as next week, according to a US government official.

Russian auditors were in the US for beef plant inspections for three weeks in September and submitted the results to the US Department of Agriculture earlier this week, US government and industry officials said on condition of anonymity.

Russia, along with most importing countries, banned US beef in December 2003 after the US detected its first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease.

In November last year Russia agreed to lift its ban on US beef so long as the beef came from cattle under 30 months old - but not until after Russian auditors visited US beef producing plants.

US and Russian negotiators are now in talks to remove that cattle-age restriction, but that might not happen before trade resumes, said a US government official who asked not to be named in this story.