Russia to restrict meat imports from Canada and Mexico
Experts have already estimated that as the result of such a step, meat imports from Canada will fall by 5-6 times, while meat imports from Mexico could be stopped altogether.
“We aim to create a list of suppliers to Russia based on a list of Mexican and Canadian companies approved to export meat to the EU, since the EU has banned the use of ractopamine and suppliers [on the EU list] meet this requirement,” said head of Rosselkhoznadzor Sergey Dankvert recently.
According to Dankvert, Canada has presented an updated list of exporters of beef and pork production companies that intend to supply meat to Russia, but Russian veterinary services can not accept it.
“[The list] includes 16 suppliers of beef and 39 suppliers of pork, but only three of these beef suppliers and seven pork suppliers match with the EU list,” said Dankvert.
The heads of the agency said that situation was currently being discussed with Canadian experts. Negotiations began in Moscow on Monday (March 18).
Dankvert pointed out that Canada had informed the Russian veterinary services about the creation of the country’s national protocol for registration of ractopamine-free products, but asked for Russia to keep its current system of supplies during its preparation. This would mean that Rosselkhoznadzor would have to continue testing shipments for ractopamine for a few months.
“But we can not wait any longer and divert large forces and resources for these tests, as we have many other risks to be monitoring. We intend to ensure that the products are delivered by reliable businesses that are definitely not using ractopamine in the production process,” Dankvert said.
Russia is facing a similar situation with Mexico, although almost none of the proposed Mexican suppliers to Russia are on the EU list of approved suppliers. So according to Rosselkhoznadzor, meat imports from this country could soon be completely stopped.
