Source: Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE, 12/10/12
Russia has notified Washington that all U.S. beef and pork exports must be certified as ractopamine-free, USDA officials confirmed to Meatingplace.
The move would effectively halt U.S. beef and pork exports to Russia because the agency does not have a testing and certification program in place for the leanness-enhancing feed additive.
USDA officials are hoping to avert that issue.
“The United States has requested that Russia delay or suspend the proposed testing program until we engage in technical discussions to resolve this issue without disrupting trade and in keeping with our oblications as World Trade Organization members,” USDA spokesman Matthew Herrick said in an emailed statement.
The U.S. and Russia have had a long back-and-forth on ractopamine. But it was last Wednesday, U.S. Meat Export Federation spokesman Joe Schuele told Meatingplace, when Moscow announced a deadline that from Saturday product not tested and certified as ractopamine-free would be barred entry.
Schuele said that U.S. pork and beef already on the water as of last Friday should be allowed into the Russian market.
“It has created a lot of uncertainty among exporters, and they’re anxious to get this issue resolved to the satisfaction of both countries so that we can either have trade that’s not interrupted or that resumes as quickly as possible,” he said.
The move comes as U.S. beef and pork exports to Russia excel. Through September, U.S. exporters sold more than $242 million worth of beef and more than $209 million worth of pork, up 25 percent and 14 percent, respectively, over the same period in 2011.
