December 11, 2009

Russia bans more US pork plants, may close market

Russia widened its ban on US pork imports on Thursday (Dec 10) to include four more plants and could close its market entirely to the US should Washington fail to observe quality standards.

Russia's farm produce watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor says the latest ban will apply from December 18 and include two plants belonging to major meat firm Smithfield Foods Inc.. The watchdog's head Sergei Dankvert says more bans could follow.

According to officials, US pork producers could face a complete halt in supplies to Russia due to delays in agreeing on meat safety certification.

Russia, among the five biggest export markets for US pork, has had several trade rows with Washington over meat and poultry supplies in recent years.

Russia's latest ban applies to Smithfield's slaughterhouses in Monmouth, Iowa and Clinton, North Carolina. Also banned are the Pork King Packing plant in Marengo, Illinois and Hatfield Quality Meats in Hatfield, Pennsylvania.

Rosselkhoznadzor cited the presence of the antibiotic oxytetracycline as the reason for the latest ban - the same problem that led it to ban imports from seven other US plants earlier.

Dankvert notes that the country has intensified monitoring of the US pork products since the end of October.