Massive investment in the poultry industry in the Republic of Dagestan in Russia's North Caucasus has been announced this week.

Moscow-based firm, IN-Invest, has teamed up with a dozen Italian companies to build an agricultural complex in the valley of the Sulak River for an ambitious project worth RUB14 billion (US$455 million), which local authorities hope will become one of the biggest of its kind in the south of Russia.

The organisation, AgroDagItaliya, says the complex will be built in three stages, the first of which is a poultry farm due to be completed by the end of next year. It hopes to produce 50,000 tonnes of poultry meat and 650 million eggs a year, with 40 per cent of the products going for export. Preliminary agreements are already in place for exports to Armenia, Moldova, Poland and Luxembourg.

One established Russian company, ABH Miratorg, has reported strong growth. Its report for the third quarter of 2012 records significant increases in its crop area and harvest from last year as well as positive developments in its feed, pork, beef, poultry and meat processing enterprises.

At its poultry project in the Vygonichskiy district of Bryansk region, the company has recently constructed a feed mill with elevator, a complex for the slaughter and initial processing of poultry, as well as of all seven scheduled complexes for broilers breeding.

Furthermore, 10 of 12 scheduled poultry breeding sites for parent stock and rearing stock are under construction in the Trubchevsk district of Bryansk region.

Within the next few months, ABH Miratorg has scheduled a new feed mill is scheduled with production capacity of 360,000 tonnes per year is scheduled, as well as a site for rearing poultry.

Also in the news, Brazil has announced it is to contest chicken dumping charges made by South Africa. The Brazilian decision is being supported by the US.

On 6 November, when the US goes to the polls to elect a new President, Californian voters will decide on a landmark piece of legislation that could have implications across the US. Among a series of new laws, California will be voting on Proposition 37, a statute that will require foods containing genetically modified organisms to be labelled.

And finally, Mexico's President, Felipe Calderón, has announced that the outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza that affected his country earlier this year is now completely under control.