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MOST US POULTRY EXPORTERS NOW ABIDE BY RUSSIAN STANDARDS

WASHINGTON DC, MAY 1 /RIA-NOVOSTI'S ARKADY ORLOV/ - Somewhere between 65 and 70 percent of all US poultry now abide by Russian sanitary and veterinary standards, Deputy Russian Prime Minister and Agriculture Minister Alexei Gordeev told reporters in Washington.

Gordeev reminded his audience that Russia stipulated certain sanitary standards with regard to agricultural-produce and food imports. We demand that the concerned importers unfailingly abide by such standards, Gordeev went on to say.

This issue was discussed at a political level last year; still this was bit over the top because such problems should be examined by professionals, Gordeev added. In his words, the sides opted for a positive discussion of this issue, after a series of talks involving US Agriculture Department officials wound up.

We no longer face any tough contradictions concerning US poultry exports to Russia, the Deputy Prime Minister noted.

Talking about the Jackson-Vanik discriminatory amendment, which still remains to be rescinded, Gordeev called that amendment an atavism in Russian-US relations. At the same time, he noted that Russia was surprised that this amendment, which had something to do with emigration issues, was also inexplicably linked with bilateral trade-and-economic relations at a time when the United States has recognized Russia's market-economy status.

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