December 17, 2009

Russia bans pork imports from yet another US plant

An additional US pork plant has been banned by Russia after antibiotic oxytetracycline was detected in its products.

According to Russia's animal and plant health watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor, the plant, Carolina Cold Storage, located in Tar Heel, North Carolina, has been added to the banned list from December 21.

Currently, imports from 26 US plants out of 164 eligible to export pork products to Russia are on the banned list for similar reasons and two more are under strict observation, which may result in a ban.

Last week, Russia threatened to completely seal its borders to US pork, citing reluctance by the US to observe Russian safety standards, which American officials believe to be unjustified.