The U.S. Meat Export Federation says Russia's delisting of 30 U.S. pork processing plants over the past 14 months has the effect of full market closure. USMEF senior vice president for exports, Paul Clayton, says the few plants still listed are not very large plants and have not been accessing that market to a great extent, so for right now this is a major closure for the U.S.
USMEF, the National Pork Producers Council and Pork Board are working together and pushing the government to keep this issue a priority. Clayton believes the groups have come up with a creative solution since Russia is unwilling to move off of its own import standards. The solution is to work with the U.S. government on a program that would allow the exporters to meet the Russian standards and allow our government to sign certificates stating that. Clayton says USDA is reviewing the proposal.
"I do believe the government believes it is a top line item and they're working very hard on it," Clayton said. He says the ultimate solution to the U.S. pork freeze-out needs to be a comprehensive strategy for restoring all U.S. plants in the program.
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