US condemns Russian ban on US meat

Top U.S. officials said that global food-safety experts had cleared the additive, ractopamine, as safe at levels used in the United States.

But Russia, enforcing its own rules against any presence of ractopamine, on Monday banned all imports of beef, turkey, chicken, pork and other animals

“The United States is very disappointed that Russia has taken action to suspend all imports of U.S. meat, which is produced to the highest safety standards in the world,” said U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in a joint statement.

“Russia has disregarded the extensive and expert scientific studies conducted by the international food safety standards body, the Codex Alimentarius Commission,” they said.

The commission “has repeatedly concluded that animal feed containing the additive ractopamine is completely safe for livestock and for humans that consume their meat.”

They said Moscow had ignored repeated requests for talks on the issue “and instead has simply suspended U.S. meat imports.”

The United States exported US$557.7 million worth of fresh meat, chilled or frozen, to Russia last year, according to U.S. data.

SHARE CLOSE
Blogger		Google+
Live Journal		Plurk
Stumble Upon

Tweet

	PREVIOUS ARTICLE
	G-20 should avoid competitive devaluation: US

NEXT ARTICLE
Fed taking 'forceful action' on economy: Yellen

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email

Submit