November 4, 2010

Russia to ban frozen poultry meat beginning 2011

Russia will ban both local and imported sales and processing of deep-frozen poultry meat starting January 1, 2011, the head of the consumer protection watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said Wednesday (Nov 4).

"This decision (to impose the ban) was taken in March 2008 after consultations with businesses, scientists and processors. The decision has been registered with the Ministry of Justice," Gennady Onishchenko said.

He said deep freezing and defrosting chicken meat before consumption means the quality deteriorates drastically.

Earlier, Onishchenko had warned Russia's partners within a customs union-Belarus and Kazakhstan-about the setting of the ban.

Onischenko did not explain how Russia, which had invested millions of dollars into domestic poultry breeding, intended to supply meat to distant regions, where there is no developed poultry industry, or how it would store fresh unsold meat.

Russia, which is a major market for poultry meat from the US, Brazil and the EU, has said it plans to stop importing it within three years.

Russia's poultry meat imports declined 73.5% in volume terms to 169,800 tonnes in the first seven months of this year. Their value fell 51% to US$248.4 million.

Russia banned imports from top supplier the US from January, but shipments have recently restarted.