Moscow Discussions Productive as Efforts Continue to Restore Market Access for U.S. Pork...

Moscow Discussions Productive as Efforts Continue to Restore Market Access for U.S. Pork

Ongoing efforts to resume U.S. pork exports to Russia got a boost this week from face-to-face discussions in Moscow between industry representatives and Russia’s top veterinary officials. With only a handful of U.S. facilities still eligible to export pork to Russia, U.S. pork exports have been effectively shut down for several weeks. Formal negotiations are continuing between the governments of the United States and Russia, but the Moscow meeting provided an opportunity for the pork industry to voice its position on a number of key issues.

USMEF Senior Vice President Thad Lively headed the U.S. industry delegation, which included representatives of 13 U.S. pork exporting companies. The Russian team was headed by Dr. Nikolay Vlasov, Russia’s chief veterinary officer.

“I would characterize the tone of the meeting as very positive and constructive,” Lively said. “I think all of us came away with the impression that we are well on our way to establishing a solid working relationship with the Russian veterinary service, and in particular with Dr. Vlasov.”

Lively reported that in separate meetings with the USDA representatives at the U.S. Embassy and in the meeting with Dr. Vlasov, both U.S. and Russian officials indicated that they are very close to finalizing an agreement on a new pork health certificate, which would remove one of the obstacles that has interrupted pork trade. The governments have also reached agreement on a new system, to be managed by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service, for approving U.S. pork processing plants for export to Russia.

“Those key pieces are very close to completion,” Lively said. “So we are optimistic that we will be seeing positive announcements on those issues fairly soon.”

In terms of reinstating individual facilities, it is important to keep in mind that U.S. plants have been delisted for one of three reasons:

• Tetracycline residues or failure to meet Russia’s zero-tolerance requirements for micro-biological parameters. (The new UDSA/AMS program is designed to address this issue.)
• Failure to pass an audit conducted by Russian veterinary officials in late 2008.
• Documentation errors discovered upon arrival of products shipped to Russia. 

Lively said a very useful discussion was held with regard to Russia’s audit procedure. He reported that Dr. Vlasov is prepared to reinstate plants that were delisted on the basis of audit findings if the United States can provide assurances to Russia that concerns raised during audits have been addressed. He added that recommendations for addressing documentation errors will be developed in coming weeks, and a proposal based on those recommendations will be presented to Russian officials.

USMEF will provide further information on these developments and further guidance on the plant reinstatement process as soon as more details are available.

Despite recent speculation that the U.S. beef industry may lose access to Russia, Lively said no trade interruptions have surfaced to date with regard to beef exports.

“The U.S. and Russia negotiated an agreement on beef in 2006, and it clearly outlines the requirements for export to Russia,” he said. “All of our U.S. plants are conforming with those requirements, and that fact has been very clearly communicated to Moscow by the U.S. government. So that situation is very different than what we have seen with pork, and we are not anticipating any problems. In fact, we’re rather bullish on the prospects for U.S. beef in Russia in the coming year.”

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The U.S. Meat Export Federation (www.USMEF.org) is the trade association responsible for developing international markets for the U.S. red meat industry and is funded by USDA, exporting companies, and the beef, pork, corn and soybean checkoff programs.

For more information, contact Jim Herlihy at jherlihy@usmef.org.

USMEF complies with all equal opportunity, non-discrimination and affirmative action measures applicable to it by contract, government rule or regulation or as otherwise provided by law.

Moscow Discussions Productive as Efforts Continue to Restore Market Access for U.S. Pork

Ongoing efforts to resume U.S. pork exports to Russia got a boost this week from face-to-face discussions in Moscow between industry representatives and Russia’s top veterinary officials. With only a handful of U.S. facilities still eligible to export pork to Russia, U.S. pork exports have been effectively shut down for several weeks. Formal negotiations are continuing between the governments of the United States and Russia, but the Moscow meeting provided an opportunity for the pork industry to voice its position on a number of key issues.

USMEF Senior Vice President Thad Lively headed the U.S. industry delegation, which included representatives of 13 U.S. pork exporting companies. The Russian team was headed by Dr. Nikolay Vlasov, Russia’s chief veterinary officer.

“I would characterize the tone of the meeting as very positive and constructive,” Lively said. “I think all of us came away with the impression that we are well on our way to establishing a solid working relationship with the Russian veterinary service, and in particular with Dr. Vlasov.”

Lively reported that in separate meetings with the USDA representatives at the U.S. Embassy and in the meeting with Dr. Vlasov, both U.S. and Russian officials indicated that they are very close to finalizing an agreement on a new pork health certificate, which would remove one of the obstacles that has interrupted pork trade. The governments have also reached agreement on a new system, to be managed by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service, for approving U.S. pork processing plants for export to Russia.

“Those key pieces are very close to completion,” Lively said. “So we are optimistic that we will be seeing positive announcements on those issues fairly soon.”

In terms of reinstating individual facilities, it is important to keep in mind that U.S. plants have been delisted for one of three reasons:

• Tetracycline residues or failure to meet Russia’s zero-tolerance requirements for micro-biological parameters. (The new UDSA/AMS program is designed to address this issue.)
• Failure to pass an audit conducted by Russian veterinary officials in late 2008.
• Documentation errors discovered upon arrival of products shipped to Russia. 

Lively said a very useful discussion was held with regard to Russia’s audit procedure. He reported that Dr. Vlasov is prepared to reinstate plants that were delisted on the basis of audit findings if the United States can provide assurances to Russia that concerns raised during audits have been addressed. He added that recommendations for addressing documentation errors will be developed in coming weeks, and a proposal based on those recommendations will be presented to Russian officials.

USMEF will provide further information on these developments and further guidance on the plant reinstatement process as soon as more details are available.

Despite recent speculation that the U.S. beef industry may lose access to Russia, Lively said no trade interruptions have surfaced to date with regard to beef exports.

“The U.S. and Russia negotiated an agreement on beef in 2006, and it clearly outlines the requirements for export to Russia,” he said. “All of our U.S. plants are conforming with those requirements, and that fact has been very clearly communicated to Moscow by the U.S. government. So that situation is very different than what we have seen with pork, and we are not anticipating any problems. In fact, we’re rather bullish on the prospects for U.S. beef in Russia in the coming year.”

# # #

The U.S. Meat Export Federation (www.USMEF.org) is the trade association responsible for developing international markets for the U.S. red meat industry and is funded by USDA, exporting companies, and the beef, pork, corn and soybean checkoff programs.

For more information, contact Jim Herlihy at jherlihy@usmef.org.

USMEF complies with all equal opportunity, non-discrimination and affirmative action measures applicable to it by contract, government rule or regulation or as otherwise provided by law.