Russia bans Chinese and Brazil meat

Russia has partially banned live animals and meat product imports from China and Brazil citing concerns over foot-and-mouth disease, the Agriculture Ministry said on Friday.
A ministry statement said Moscow had temporarily restricted imports and transit of Chinese live animals and all animal products not subjected to thermal treatment from September 17.
"Joint investigations of the foot-and-mouth situation at Chinese territories bordering Russia, undertaken after repeated requests by the Russian veterinary service, had failed to provide reliable information," the statement said.
Another statement temporarily suspended imports of Brazilian live animals and all animal products not subjected to thermal treatment from September 20. The restriction will remain in force until the foot-and-mouth situation in Brazil stabilises, it said.
On September 13, Brazil registered a case of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in the remote northern state of Amazonas, outside the country's vaccination program that covers all exporting states in the center-south. Amazonas does not export beef.
"Russia continues to be a very important market for Brazil's meat industry," said consultant Enio Marquez, former executive director of Brazil's Meat Exporters Association (Abiec). "In my opinion, Russia is taking advantage of a sanitary issue for political reasons."
Brazil's meat export industry has been growing vibrantly since the outbreak of bird flu in Asia and two cases of mad cow disease in North America. The country has the world's largest commercial cattle herd of about 180 million head and it has recently become the world's leading chicken exporter.
Russia is Brazil's main fresh and frozen beef export market, its main pork export market and an important market for poultry. Brazil exported 84,595 tonnes of beef to Russia in 2003 worth $101 million.
Brazil's Agriculture Ministry was not prepared to make a comment early Friday on the ban.
Russia restricted meat imports by imposing quotas from 2003, citing the need to stimulate domestic breeding. Russia has also been seeking - so far unsuccessfully - access to the wheat market in Brazil, one of the world's largest importers of the grain.
China and Brazil do not have separate beef and pork quotas and can export frozen beef within a 68,000-tonne quota and pork within a 179,500-tonne quota reserved for countries other than the United States, the European Union and Paraguay.
Brazil has the right to export 33,000 tonnes of poultry to Russia this year of the total Russian quota of 1.05 million tonnes.
Moscow banned poultry imports from China in January to prevent spreading of deadly bird flu virus.
Russia had previously banned imports from Brazil on June 18 following the discovery of foot-and-mouth disease in three cattle on a farm in the northern state of Para.
At the end of June it lifted the ban from most of the country except the states of Para and Mato Grosso.