Russia Issues Decree on Distribution of 2009 Meat Import Licenses

Russia Issues Decree on Distribution of 2009 Meat Import Licenses

On March 17, the government of Russia published a decree outlining distribution of the balance of its meat import licenses for 2009. While 25 percent of the 2009 import quotas were allocated to importers on Dec. 11, 2008, this decree makes available the remaining 75 percent.

The quotas for beef, pork and poultry are allocated according to importers’ historical import performance during the period of 2005 through 2007, with a small proportion being made available to companies that imported over-quota quantities in 2008.

The total 2009 quota for U.S. beef is 18,500 metric tons (40.8 million pounds) out of a total of 450,000 metric tons (992 million pounds). For U.S. pork, the quota is 100,000 metric tons (220.5 million pounds) out of a total of 531,920 metric tons (1.17 billion pounds). While the U.S. beef quota is largely unchanged from last year, the U.S. quota for pork has essentially doubled in size over 2008.

# # #

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.

Russia Issues Decree on Distribution of 2009 Meat Import Licenses

On March 17, the government of Russia published a decree outlining distribution of the balance of its meat import licenses for 2009. While 25 percent of the 2009 import quotas were allocated to importers on Dec. 11, 2008, this decree makes available the remaining 75 percent.

The quotas for beef, pork and poultry are allocated according to importers’ historical import performance during the period of 2005 through 2007, with a small proportion being made available to companies that imported over-quota quantities in 2008.

The total 2009 quota for U.S. beef is 18,500 metric tons (40.8 million pounds) out of a total of 450,000 metric tons (992 million pounds). For U.S. pork, the quota is 100,000 metric tons (220.5 million pounds) out of a total of 531,920 metric tons (1.17 billion pounds). While the U.S. beef quota is largely unchanged from last year, the U.S. quota for pork has essentially doubled in size over 2008.

# # #

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.