U.S. to resume chicken exports to Russia

U.S. to resume chicken exports to Russia    U.S. farmers will soon be able to once again export poultry to Russia.
   After several months of negotiations, an agreement was reached between the U.S. and Russian governments on June 24 to restart trade of U.S. poultry to Russia. In 2009, U.S. poultry shipments to Russia were valued at $767 million.
   'This is an important achievement for U.S. agriculture,' said U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, in a statement. 'Russia has long been the largest export market for U.S. poultry and regaining access to that market has been a top priority for the Obama administration.'
   Under the agreement, the United States will publish information on USDA's Web site about which disinfectants and pathogen reduction treatments are known to be approved by Russia for use on processing poultry and on food generally.
   The United States will provide information to Russia on the solutions that companies use on poultry shipped to Russia. In addition, the United States will give Russia an updated list of poultry processing plants authorized to ship poultry to that country.