SPRINGDALE, Ark. - Six years after its last embargo, Russia has banned the import of poultry from the United States.
A spokesman for Sen. Tim Hutchinson, R-Ark., said the ban appears to be retribution for U.S. tariffs on imported steel.
Russia imported just more than 1 million metric tons of U.S. chicken in 2001, according to the National Chicken Council. The total was 38 percent of total American chicken exports and 8 percent of total production. The Russian poultry industry produced 563,000 tons of poultry last year.
Springdale based Tyson Foods Inc., the world's largest meat company, said Russia is an important customer. It wouldn't release it sales figures.
The Russian embargo action comes after a 1996 ban, which led to months of negotiations between the U.S. and Russian governments, including a lobbying effort by then-President Clinton.
Hutchinson spokesman D.J. O'Brien said the senator believes the new ban is political.
``He (Hutchinson) feels the Russian motive is likely punitive and is in response to a potential for a tariff being placed on steel imports,'' O'Brien said. ``The reasons are completely capricious and it is definite violation of the 1996 Russian agreement.''
The Russian Agriculture Ministry on Friday said it would begin a temporary ban on poultry imports starting March 10. The reason given by the Russian government was to force American companies to report the antibiotics and preservatives used in the industry.
Saturday
January 11th, 2025
11:02AM
