Washington - The United States opened the door to large-scale sales of poultry to Russia, and is willing to consider a new round of food aid if all goes well in delivering a $885 million donation, Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said.
During a telephone news conference from Moscow, Glickman announced a 50,000 tonne government-to-government transaction to bring poultry meat to Russia.
“We're still working on a larger transaction,” he said, which could be as large as 200,000 tonnes of poultry meat at concessional prices through the PL- 480 “Food for Peace” program.
After a round of meetings that included Russia's prime minister and deputy prime minister, Glickman said he believed Russia had additional needs for food aid.
“I do believe the need is apparent, as is Russia's desire for more,” Glickman said. If the $885 million package is delivered smoothly and distributed fairly, “then we will consider additional quantities,” he said.
There was no discussion of goods that might be included in a new package, Glickman said.
U.S. poultry processors and exporters, rather than the government, would be involved in poultry sales if PL-480 is used. In recent years, Russia was the No. 1 market for U.S. poultry exports, mostly leg quarters.
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