The leadership of the Senate Agriculture Committee Jan. 14 wrote to President Obama calling on his administration to defend market access for U.S. pork, poultry, and beef producers in Russia.
       
       Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), ranking GOP member, sent the letter expressing concern over recent actions taken by Russia imposing new agricultural trade barriers, which they said are adversely impacting domestic producers.
       
       A U.S. delegation will meet with the Russian Ministries of Health and Agriculture the week of Jan. 18, the senators noted.
       
       Russian actions with respect to U.S. exports of pork, poultry, and beef have taken different forms but they all erect non-scientific barriers to trade, the senators charged in the letter.
       
       "[A]ttempts to manage the flow of imports raises questions regarding Russia’s willingness and readiness to become a member of the World Trade Organization."
       
       Actions Must Be Challenged
       
       Leaving these actions unchallenged they "would have the effect of keeping U.S. products almost entirely out of Russian markets," the senators said. Also, while Russia’s varied justifications centered on sanitary measures, analyses or guidelines of international agencies such as the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) or the Codex Alimentarius do not support the conclusions reached, the letter said.
       
       The senators complained that a variety of Russian ministries have raised questionable or undocumented objections about processing or residue issues for pork products originating from specific U.S. plants. This has lead to those facilities being delisted for exports to Russia, they added.
       
       "With the delisting of nearly 30 pork processing plants, 98 percent of pork processed in the United States is ineligible for export," the senators told the president.
       
       As of Jan. 1, 2010, Russian government has determined that it will no longer accept poultry imports processed with the use of chlorine rinses, the senators said. Numerous studies and most recognized scientific bodies worldwide have found this practice to be entirely safe, they said, adding that they believed a significant number of poultry processors in Russia use this technique. "Since almost all U.S. poultry plants use chlorine rinses, this action has essentially closed their market to our product," the letter said.
       
       Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin reiterated Jan. 14 that the country would no longer accept imports of chlorine-treated poultry, saying in televised remarks that some trade partners, notably the United States, are not prepared to comply with this standard.
       
       The United States launched dispute settlement proceedings a year ago against the European Union at the World Trade Organization over its ban on imports of poultry meat and poultry meat products treated with chlorine-based pathogen reduction treatments in the processing of poultry
       
       The senators also said that the U.S. beef industry has been informed that only U.S. products which have been inspected according to Russian standards will be allowed entry effective Feb. 1, 2010.
       
       "If the information is correct it will also significantly impact U.S. beef exports," the letter said.
       
       U.S. exports of pork, poultry, and beef to Russia were valued at more than $1.3 billion in 2008, the letter noted.
       
       "Extended absence from this important market would be costly to our livestock and poultry producers, who already face a difficult financial situation due to the current economic recession," the senators said.
       
       The senators said it was important to find a mutually agreeable solution that will be based on sound science and ensures open and predictable access for U.S. exports to the Russian market.
       
       High Standards
       
       "America’s farmers and ranchers are required by [the U.S. Department of Agriculture] to meet very stringent food safety standards, which help them produce some of the most abundant, affordable, safest and highest quality food in the world. On that basis, I believe that Russia’s citing of safety concerns as reason for their actions is baseless," Lincoln said in a press release.
       
       The United States is Russia’s largest meat supplier.
       
       U.S. producers would lose a market that accounts for 25 percent of its broiler exports and 7 percent of its pork exports under the restrictions, according to the press statement.
       
       The restrictions could negatively impact nearly 6 percent of Arkansas jobs, the statement said.
       
       By Rossella Brevetti