Source:  Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 8/18/10

Russia has reinstated as eligible exporters Smithfield Foods’ Tar Heel, N.C., and Clinton, N.C., pork plants, only days after banning two other company-owned plants, according to USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service website.

Farmland Foods facilities in Milan, Mo., and Denison, Iowa, can ship product produced in those facilities through Aug. 26, but come Aug. 27 they no longer will be eligible to export to Russia, FSIS said late last week.

Russia put the brakes on Smithfield’s Tar Heel, N.C., and Clinton, N.C., plants in late July and early August, respectively. A government source told Meatingplace at the time that USDA believed the problem resulted from a misreading of certificate provisions.

Moscow also suspended Seaboard’s Guymon, Okla., plant last month.

These establishments had been re-listed as eligible exporters to Russia in March. They were among a slew of U.S. pork exporters banned by Russia based on what that country said were protocol violations discovered during a previous industry-wide audit.

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