Russia slashed its frozen poultry import quotas by more than half and will import 350,000 metric tons of poultry next year, the Russian government said in its decree.

RIA Novosti reports that the Russian authorities initially planned to import 600,000 metric tons of poultry in 2011. This year's quota stood at 780,000 metric tons.

In November, Russia's chief sanitary official, Gennady Onishchenko, said poultry freezing was an outdated and rough technology, which led to a loss of many of the useful qualities of meat.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said in October that Russia could do without poultry imports from 2011.

The Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare has recently announced plans to ban frozen chicken meat imports from the start of 2011, but later changed its mind.

On 1 January, Russia introduced new sanitary standards, banning the treatment of meat with chlorine of a higher concentration than in drinking water. A difficult negotiating process began between Russia and the United States, which previously accounted for over 80 per cent of all poultry imports to Russia.

Further Reading

-

Go to our previous news item on this story by clicking here.