020703 Russia Imposing Duty on Poultry Imports

Moscow - Russia, a major U.S. poultry buyer, is imposing a protective duty on chicken imports amid an investigation into losses suffered by Russian poultry producers because of foreign competition, the economics and trade minister said.

The size of the tariff will be determined at a meeting of the Russian government commission on protective trade measures in four weeks, economics and trade minister German Gref was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

Gref announced a preliminary investigation into "large losses" by Russian poultry producers because of imports. He gave no details of what period it would cover or what measures could be taken as a result.

His comments came while scars are still fresh of a Russian ban on U.S. chicken in March that strained relations.

Russia cited concerns about sanitary conditions at U.S. plants. The ban was lifted a month later, after the United States promised to tighten export controls, but new bureaucratic hurdles have delayed a full resumption of imports.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's undersecretary for farms and foreign agricultural services, J.B. Penn, arrived in Moscow on Monday for talks with Russian veterinary officials about the poultry imports, Interfax reported.

Before the ban, Russia relied heavily on U.S. chicken imports. Poultry is the biggest U.S. export to Russia, bringing $600 million to $700 million a year to producers in 38 U.S. states.

RETURN TO HOME PAGE

E-mail: sflanagan@sprintmail.com