US To Get Large Share of Russia's 2004 Import Quota for Poultry Meat, Pork & Beef - RUSSIA - The United States may get a large share of poultry meat, pork and beef import quotas Russia plans to set for next year, a source on a government panel in charge of drafting customs regulations said yesterday.

The source said the Commission for Protective Measures in Foreign Trade has drafted resolutions on the quotas for 2004. To come into effect, they have to be signed by the prime minister and published in an official gazette.

The commission plans to recommend the government grant the United States - Russia's top poultry supplier - a poultry meat quota of 771,900 tons out of a total quota of 1.05 million tons.

The European Union, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Cyprus and Malta combined may get 205,000 tons, Paraguay 5,000 tons, and other countries 68,100 tons.

The United States is allowed this year to export 553,500 tons of poultry meat within a total quota of 744,000 tons set for May-December, the European Union 139,900, Brazil 33,300, China 3,100 and other countries 14,200 tons.

This year, the government set a quota of 315,000 tons for frozen beef imports and 337,500 tons for pork for the nine months starting April 1. It added a quota of 11,500 tons of fresh and chilled beef from August 1 until the end of 2003.

From 2004 the government plans to extend the principle of distributing quotas to specific countries for pork and beef. Of a 450,000-ton pork quota planned for 2004, the U.S. share may be 42,200 tons.

The EU, Hungary, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, and Estonia may have a quota of 227,300 tons, Paraguay, 1,000 tons, and other countries a total of 179,500 tons. Of a 420,000-ton quota to be issued for frozen beef, the United States may get 17,200 tons.

The EU, Hungary, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Estonia may have a quota of 331,800 tons, Paraguay, 3,000 tons, and other countries 68,000 tons.

A fresh and chilled beef quota may be set at 27,500 tons, of which 27,000 may go to the EU, Hungary, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Estonia and the remaining 5,000 tons to other countries.

No poultry meat imports above the quota are allowed. Russia restricted meat imports by imposing quotas in 2003, saying the cut was needed to stimulate domestic breeding.