Russia is seemingly giving its approval to more meat companies ( while still keeping out others) as beef and pork prices rise.
Wholesale prices for beef in Russia grew by 15-30 percent, and pork prices increased by 10-20 percent in the two months from April-May 2008, while poultry prices remained stable, according to Sergey Yushin, the Head of the Executive Committee of National Meat Association.
The sharp rise in prices was due to a shortage during those months.
Pork and chicken production in Russia have received generous state support as the country seeks to be less dependant on foreign food sources. The US is the biggest chicken exporter to Russia.
Russia on July 10 abolished import duties on chickens and several types of hatching eggs. Import duties were previously 15 percent for chicken and 5 percent for eggs.
However, a day later, Russia's Federal Agency for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision (Rosselkhoznadzor) has imposed restrictions on meat imports from some European, Argentinean, Brazilian and Australian sources, citing food safety concerns. Food products in the latter three consisted of boneless beef.
Rosselkhoznadzo also expanded the list of US meat companies allowed to export beef and pork to Russia while tightening control over those exporting poultry. The agency said controls were tightened because of detection of the salt of heavy metals in shipments.
