USMEF International Buyers Conference Product Showcase Registration Kit USMEF...
USMEF International Buyers Conference Product Showcase Registration Kit
USMEF South American Expo
Russia
Russia Suspends Import Licenses For Beef And Pork
Russia’s Agriculture Ministry has now suspended all existing veterinary licenses for imports of beef and pork as well as poultry, according to a Reuters story, thus effectively halting all meat imports. The ministry is requiring all meat importers to apply for new licenses to replace the old ones that have been declared void.
A letter dated January 29 applies to beef and pork imports from February to March and poultry imports from February to April. It said the order was linked to the establishment of quotas for beef, pork and poultry imports.
A spokesman for the German meat industry association, which received the letter from the Russian ministry, said the suspension would not apply to meat consignments already in transit or which had left their country of origin by February 3.
“We suspect the moves indicated in the letter could effectively suspend all Russian meat imports for at least two weeks.”
Antidumping Documents Available
On Jan 7, the Mexican government announced that an antidumping investigation was being initiated against imports of U.S. pork from April 1-September 30, 2002. A translation of the Mexico Ministry of Economy antidumping questionnaire is now available. It includes: general information and instructions, overviews in chart 1 and chart 2, definitions in “Annex” 2, 3 and 4, and forms “Annex 1” and “A.1-2” . Exporters and traders selling product to Mexico should review these documents and should consider whether to have their attorneys also review them. USMEF understands that the named companies selling product during the investigation period as well as any company that wants to try avoid being put into an “all others” category should fill out the forms and submit the requested data. Deadline for filing is Feb. 18. The official announcement is available online at http://www.segob.gob.mx/dof/dof_07-01-2003.pdf and begins on page 26 of this document. A preliminary translation – in which there may be still be interpretation errors – is available at http//www.usmef.org/Misc_News/03_0107_MexAntiDump_sp.pdf and a preliminary evaluation of the situation by the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service office in Mexico City is available at http://www.fas.usda.gov/gainfiles/200301/145785049.pdf.