MOSCOW - A U.S. delegation failed to reach a new agreement on poultry imports to Russia and has left the country to obtain further information requested by Moscow, the U.S. Embassy said July 9. <br>
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An embassy spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there were remaining issues "to clarify that require additional information from our side." He declined to name specifics. <br>
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The Russian Agriculture Ministry has warned that it will ban poultry imports from the U.S. beginning Aug. 1 without new veterinary certificates, saying previous certificates will only be accepted until July 31. Washington has lobbied for the deadline to be pushed back to Oct. 1. <br>
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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 in imported chicken. The ban was lifted a month later, after the U.S. promised to tighten export controls, but new bureaucratic hurdles have delayed a full resumption of imports. <br>
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The embassy spokesman called the talks between the two sides "productive" and said "considerable progress" had been made toward agreeing on the new certificates. <br>
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The Russian Agriculture Ministry issued its warning on the new veterinary certificate requirement July 4. <br>
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Russia also is imposing a protective duty on chicken imports amid an investigation into losses suffered by Russian poultry producers because of foreign competition, the economics and trade minister said July 1. <br>
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The size of the tariff will be determined at a meeting of the Russian government commission on protective trade measures at the end of July, economics and trade minister German Gref was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying. <br>
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Gref announced a preliminary investigation into "large losses" by Russian poultry producers because of imports. He gave no details of what period it would cover or what measures could be taken as a result. <br>
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