990311 U.S., Russia Meeting on U.S. Meat Aid Package

Washington - U.S. and Russian officials are meeting in Moscow on to hammer out the final details of the U.S. meat aid package for Russia.

“I understand that there is a working group meeting going on in Moscow to discuss that,” John Reddington, director of the livestock and poultry division at the USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service, said.

Reddington said the agricultural attache from the U.S. embassy in Moscow is heading up the talks for the U.S. side.

The United States agreed to provide nearly $1 billion in food aid to Russia under a deal announced late last year.

The package provides for the sale of 120,000 tonnes of U.S. beef, 50,000 tonnes of pork and 50,000 tonnes of poultry under title one of the PL-480 program, which provides low-interest, long-term credit for food purchases.

Reddington said last week that U.S. beef chucks, rounds, trimmings and briskets will likely be sent to Russia along with pork trimmings and picnics. The United States will likely sell leg quarters for the poultry portion, he said.

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