MOSCOW, August 4 (RIA Novosti) – US Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) representatives refused Monday to hold consultations with Russian agricultural watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor on poultry deliveries to Russia, Rosselkhoznadzor’s deputy head Alexei Alexeyenko told RIA Novosti.
“Our counterparts refused to hold talks today, citing a tight schedule and suggested to reschedule them for Thursday. We hope to resolve the issue by the end of the week,” Alexeyenko said.
In July, Rosselkhoznadzor announced that Russia might impose restrictions on poultry imports from the United States from August due to an outbreak of salmonellosis.
Earlier in April, the Russian agricultural watchdog banned poultry deliveries from California for three months due to the bird flu epidemic.
The United States is the largest exporter of poultry to Russia. Currently, 270 US companies are licensed to export poultry meat to Russia, but only 10 of them have import licenses.
