New markets open for US day-old chicks and hatching eggs
The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has announced the opening of export markets to Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia for US day-old chicks and hatching eggs, increasing US exports by an estimated $25 million a year.
“This is a significant agreement for poultry exporters in the United States,” said USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack. “For nearly 10 years, APHIS has pursued the opening of the Russian market to US day-old chicks and hatching eggs, and now we have also secured access for these products to Belarus and Kazakhstan.”
In February, APHIS veterinary health personnel and their counterparts in Moscow developed the export documentation that APHIS will issue for products shipped to the three countries. In 2010, Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus formed a Customs Union, and are currently working to harmonize import requirements for cattle and other live animals and livestock products.
The market access for poultry commodities represents the first of nearly 40 new agreements related to live animals and animal products that USDA will work to negotiate with the Customs Union.
