Source:  Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 8/13/10

In a joint letter to Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, U.S. Sens. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) and Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) said Moscow needs to honor its commitment to resume imports of U.S. poultry, the lawmakers announced in a news release.

Russian authorities agreed to resume imports of U.S. poultry following assurances that processors would use antimicrobials other than chlorine. In recent weeks Moscow has asked to inspect U.S. poultry establishments already approved to ship, which U.S. officials said was not part of the deal.

“Russia’s refusal to resume poultry trade with the U.S. demonstrates a serious lack of commitment to the agreement reached by the two countries in June,” Lincoln said. “By creating an arbitrary trade barrier, Russia continues to hamper progress in U.S.-Russian relations. As Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee I intend to make sure the Russian government lives up to their commitment to resume fair and open U.S. poultry imports.”

Chambliss added, “The action on the part of the Russians does not benefit them in the eyes of a lot of policymakers who are trying to make up their minds relative to other questions,” Chambliss said.  “If we can't work out a deal on chickens and expect them to keep their word, how can we trust them on issues of nuclear weapon facilities?”

The new barrier to resuming exports was discovered during a trade hearing held July 28 by the Senate Agriculture Committee. Lincoln and Chambliss sent the letter Aug. 11, a day before U.S. negotiators were scheduled to meet their Russian counterparts in Geneva to try and resolve the dispute.

Over the last three years, U.S. poultry exports to Russia averaged more than $800 million in value, making Russia the single largest U.S. export market.  The poultry industry represents over 500,000 jobs in the United States. In Arkansas, the Russian poultry market has been worth as much as $100 million a year, contributing to 88,480 or nearly 6 percent of all jobs in the state.

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