October 7, 2011

Russia to ban Brazilian pork supplies

A ban on pork supplies from Brazilian livestock farms may be imposed by Russia's Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Oversight as they are using ractopamine as feed additive, the service's Press Secretary Alexei Alekseyenko said Thursday (Oct6).

Alekseyenko said that in November, a group of experts is going to Brazil, and they will check these livestock farms and a decision on importing the products to Russia will be taken on the basis of this study.

Ractopamine is used as a feed additive to promote leanness in pigs raised for their meat. The use of this medicine is banned by Russian veterinary standards, as well as the standards of certain EU countries, Alekseyenko added.

Also, the group of Russian experts is to analyse the system of breeding livestock in Brazil in order to determine whether Brazilian farms perform to standards stipulated by the Brazilian veterinary service.