US turkey imports to Russia depend on inspection result

Russia will restore the import of US turkey only if the results of inspections from the country’s producers show that they stopped using ractopamine.

At the same time veterinary specialists from Russia’s agriculture watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor will carry out inspections on US poultry farms no earlier than the end of October, Rosselkhoznadzor reported. Depending on the results of inspections, the ban on the import of turkey from the US may be cancelled at the beginning of November.

“We received a proposal from our American colleagues to carry out inspections in October but no date has been set yet, we need to check our schedules, but it will probably happen by the end of the month,” the official said, adding that there will definitely be inspections.

Russia stopped turkey meat supplies from the US in February 2013 due to the use of ractopamine in its production. Rosselkhoznadzor chief Sergei Dankvert said earlier that the talks were aimed at ensuring Customs Union countries are sure that the US veterinary service is doing enough to control the use of ractopamine, reported the press service of Rosselhoznadzor.

The Federal Customs Union reports that poultry imports to the Customs Union are of great importance for US. In 2012 it totalled 406,700 tonnes for US$456 million. Russia obtained 74.4% of supplies (in value terms) and Kazakhstan – 25.6%.