Weekly USMEF Audio Report: Moscow Discussions Productive as Efforts Continue to Restore Market Access for U.S. Pork...
Feb. 23, 2010 - Efforts to resume U.S. pork exports to Russia got a boost last week from face-to-face discussions in Moscow between U.S. 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. companies. The Russian team was headed by Dr. Nikolay Vlasov, Russia’s chief veterinary officer.
Lively reports that U.S. and Russian officials 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. Lively is also optimistic about gaining reinstatement for U.S. plants that were delisted because of their failure to pass an audit conducted by Russia in late 2008.
Some U.S. pork plants have also been delisted due to documentation errors discovered upon arrival of products shipped to Russia. Lively said recommendations for addressing documentation errors will be developed in coming weeks, and a proposal based on those recommendations will be presented to Russian officials.
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.
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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.
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