A Russian news report says Russia is unwilling to grant special exceptions to the U.S. poultry industry, raising the possibility of another ban on U.S. poultry imports next month.
Russia's Interfax news agency quotes the deputy agriculture minister, Sergei Dankvert, as saying the United States has not signed a new veterinary certificate, a requirement for Russian domestic poultry producers. The official said Russia is prepared to unilaterally impose the same certificate on U.S. producers.
The Russian government imposed a ban on U.S. poultry imports in March, citing concerns about sanitary conditions at U.S. plants and cases of salmonella.
Before the dispute, U.S. poultry sales to Russia were valued at about $800-million a year and accounted for 20 percent of all U.S. exports to Russia.