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[Second Issue of the Day]
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US More Optimistic Than Moscow Over End Of Poultry Row
July 3, 2002
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
MOSCOW (AP)--A top U.S. agriculture official said Wednesday the dispute over U.S. poultry imports to Russia is nearing an end, in spite of recent suggestions by Russian officials that Moscow would continue to limit the chicken trade.
J.B. Penn, the undersecretary for farm and foreign agricultural services for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, began the latest round of talks to solve the trade spat on June 26. Before departing from Moscow on Wednesday, he expressed optimism that the U.S. poultry industry would again find a stable, long-term market in Russia .
"I am pleased to say that we have narrowed our differences substantially and reduced the number of outstanding issues to a very few," Penn said.
He described the remaining disputes as technical questions concerning testing and other procedures at processing plants and the nature of information to be included in poultry shipments.
Earlier this week, Russian Agriculture Minister Alexei Gordeyev said he saw no reason to negotiate with the U.S. side.
"We should, in accordance with our legislation and sanitary norms, simply set our demands before the American producers and shippers, and they should accept and fulfill all these demands," he said in an interview with the Vedemosti business daily.
Penn said the U.S. was disappointed by Russian Economic Development Minister Gherman Gref's announcement earlier this week that the government is considering imposing a protective duty on chicken imports. Gref also said the government had launched a preliminary investigation into allegedly large losses by Russian poultry producers because of imports.
U.S. producers in 38 states send $600 million to $700 million worth of poultry to Russia each year.
The Russian government imposed a ban on U.S. poultry imports in March, citing concerns about sanitary conditions at U.S. plants and cases of salmonella in imported chicken.
The ban was officially lifted a month later, after the U.S. promised to tighten export controls, but new bureaucratic hurdles have delayed a full resumption of imports.
Russia imported 40% less U.S. poultry this year than during the same period last year, according to the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council.
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