Russia is considering raising quotas for beef imports and cutting allocations for pork and poultry in 2010, the country's National Meat Association said in a report by Bloomberg.

Sergei Yushin, head of the association's executive committee, said in an interview that Moscow may approve final three-year quotas this month.

Proposals include raising the country's beef quota by 100,000 metric tons to 550,000 tons in 2010 and the duty on supplies exceeding the limit to 50 percent from 30 percent, he said. Meanwhile, Russian producers propose cutting quotas for poultry by 100,000 tons to 850,000 tons and for pork by 32,000 tons to 500,000 tons.

Upping the beef quotas would allow Russia to allocate larger volumes to different countries. The European Union has claim to 80 percent of the current beef quota, but the bloc has become a net importer and therefore cannot fully utilize it, the report noted.

Russia's total beef imports were 800,000 tons in 2008, compared with quotas of 450,000 tons. Yushin is quoted as saying Russia will either drop specific country quotas or reduce the EU's share, perhaps by as many as 70,000 tons in 2010 from 355,500 tons in 2009.

U.S. quota

The U.S. quota could be raised to 30,000 tons from 18,500 tons, and the rest would be allotted to Brazil, Argentina, Australia, Uruguay, Paraguay and Canada, Yushin said. In 2009, these countries had a combined quota of 73,000 tons. Brazil is Russia's largest beef supplier, followed by Argentina and Australia.

Yushin said he expects higher domestic beef prices to generate increased demand for poultry and pork.

"We think that poultry quotas shouldn't fall below 800,000 tons to 820,000 tons," he is quoted as saying. "Otherwise, we'll immediately see a price increase, and even shortages."

The United States might not fulfill its pork and poultry quotas this year due to the ruble's decline against the dollar, which has increased the price of imports, Yushin said, adding that Russian pork production is expected to rise by as much as 180,000 tons this year.

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