Source: Bob Moser, MEATINGPLACE, 11/3/11

Russia is reportedly close to lifting its trade embargo against meat processors from Brazil, prompted by pressure from the United States in Geneva, as the countries near final negotiations for Russia to enter the World Trade Organization, according to Russian and Brazilian news outlets.

Russia has been renegotiating its meat import quotas and other market access rules in exchange for support in its bid to join the WTO. One of the new challenges arising this week in WTO negotiations between Russia and member-nations involves export rights for high-quality cuts of beef to the market, reports Valor Economico newspaper. In poultry, the U.S. reportedly wants to renegotiate Russia's export quotas for supplier-countries in order to gain an advantage for its poultry sector.

Unnamed sources close to the negotiation told the Brazilian newspaper that the plan now seems to be for the Russian concessions package to be discussed and finalized by next week in Geneva, at or before the WTO's final meeting. Russia should be accepted into the organization by year's end, after lobbying for entry for 18 years.

If the U.S. wrestles away a larger slice of the poultry import quota from Brazil, Russia may risk losing the support of one of its most important trading partners, said Rodrigo Lima, manager with Brazilian trade think-tank Icone Brasil, via phone interview with Meatingplace.

While Russia is still an important poultry export market, Brazil has made significant progress in opening new markets in Asia and the Middle East in recent years. If a reformulation of Russia's meat import quotas gives Brazil a smaller portion than it had in the past, Brazilian producers won't be happy, Lima said, and could lobby officials not to support Russia's WTO bid.

Brazil's former president Luis Inacio Lula da Silva signed a bilateral agreement with Russia in 2005 to support the country in its WTO bid, in exchange for the promise that Brazil's access to Russia's meat market wouldn't worsen. Since then, not only have Brazilian meat exports to Russia decreased, Russia has reduced large import volume promises to multiple countries with which it had committed through WTO negotiations.

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev is expected to meet with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Thursday and Friday of this week the G-20 meetings in Cannes, France. The ongoing meat trade embargo is not listed as a topic of discussion for the two.

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