Russia to halt US beef, pork imports
Source: Agencies |
December 9, 2012, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
UNITED States pork and beef exports to Russia could come to a halt as early as today following Moscow's requirement that the meat be tested and certified free of the feed additive ractopamine, a move analysts said smacked of political retaliation.
The move could jeopardize the more than US$500 million a year in exports of US beef and pork to Russia, and comes on the heels of US Senate approval of a bill to expand bilateral trade that also sought to punish Russian human rights violators.
The US asked Russia, the sixth-largest market for US beef and pork, to suspend the condition even as it warned domestic firms that Moscow might reject their pork shipments over ractopamine and stop buying pork from processing plants that produced pork with the drug.
Ractopamine is used as a feed additive to make meat leaner, but countries such as China have banned its use despite scientific evidence that it is safe. The United Nations has agreed on acceptable levels of the drug.
The US Meat Export Federation told its members by email that since the US Department of Agriculture had no testing and certification program in place for ractopamine, the Russian requirement could effectively halt US pork and beef exports to the country.
USMEF, a non-profit trade association, said more than 210 shipping containers of US pork and beef valued at about US$20 million were on their way to Russia.
Department of Agriculture spokesman Matt Herrick offered to have further technical discussions with Moscow on the safety of ractopamine. "We will continue to reach out to Russia to resolve our differences, as well as to encourage Russia to implement the (UN) Codex Alimentarius Commission's standards for imported meat products to help provide greater certainty, in keeping with their obligation as a World Trade Organization member."
The move could jeopardize the more than US$500 million a year in exports of US beef and pork to Russia, and comes on the heels of US Senate approval of a bill to expand bilateral trade that also sought to punish Russian human rights violators.
The US asked Russia, the sixth-largest market for US beef and pork, to suspend the condition even as it warned domestic firms that Moscow might reject their pork shipments over ractopamine and stop buying pork from processing plants that produced pork with the drug.
Ractopamine is used as a feed additive to make meat leaner, but countries such as China have banned its use despite scientific evidence that it is safe. The United Nations has agreed on acceptable levels of the drug.
The US Meat Export Federation told its members by email that since the US Department of Agriculture had no testing and certification program in place for ractopamine, the Russian requirement could effectively halt US pork and beef exports to the country.
USMEF, a non-profit trade association, said more than 210 shipping containers of US pork and beef valued at about US$20 million were on their way to Russia.
Department of Agriculture spokesman Matt Herrick offered to have further technical discussions with Moscow on the safety of ractopamine. "We will continue to reach out to Russia to resolve our differences, as well as to encourage Russia to implement the (UN) Codex Alimentarius Commission's standards for imported meat products to help provide greater certainty, in keeping with their obligation as a World Trade Organization member."
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