Russia bans meat imports from 89 Brazilian firms

Russia is banning meat and other livestock product imports from 89 manufacturers in three Brazilian states for not meeting Russian standards on June 15, Alexei Alexeyenko, spokesman for Russian food safety watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor, told Interfax.

Meat from 23 enterprises in the state of Mato Gross, 16 of them beef producers; 27 in Rio Grande do Sul,, 10 of them poultry producers; and 39 in Parana, 15 of them poultry and 11 - pork producers.

A total of 236 Brazilian farms were entitled to export meat to Russia prior to the ban.

"Essentially, the ban is a vote of no-confidence in the vet services of these states, which were unable to introduce a system for fulfilling Customs Union requirements," Alexeyenko said.

Brazil accounted for 35% of Russia's pork imports (215,000 tonnes), 45% of its beef (269,000 tonnes) and 19% of its poultry (121,000 tonnes) imports in 2010.

(Published by Interfax - June 2, 2011)