What’s the beef? U.S. concerned over Russia’s ban of meat containing additive

VANCOUVER DESI

Russia said it intends to ban U.S. beef and pork products beginning Feb. 11. Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

What seems to be the beef here?

In the midst of increasingly tense relations between two traditional superpowers, over issues such as human rights and child adoptions, the U.S. and Russia are involved in a new dispute over beef and pork products from the former that contain the feed additive ractopamine.

Russia declared earlier in the week that it would implement a temporary ban on American meat beginning Feb. 11.

The U.S. response?  Andrea Mead, a spokeswoman for the office of U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Ron Kirk said the action could “undermine our bilateral trade relationship,” with Russia.

The issue revolves around ractopamine, which promotes growth in livestock.

Russia’s federal food safety agency said its American counterpart, the U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service, failed to guarantee that meat products from the U.S. would be free of the additive. It also had warned the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Brazil that their meat imports could be halted should imports contain ractopamine.

The U.S. government and meat industry lobby groups insist that ractopamine is safe at acceptable levels established by the international community, including the UN’s main food safety body.

“To date, the US has not seen any scientific evidence that would justify Russia’s measures on ractopamine residues,” Mead said.

She said the ban may put Russia in violation of its World Trade Organisation (WTO) obligations and that the U.S. may seek recourse through the global trade body.

—  With a file from IANS/RIA Novosti

Tags: ban, Meat, Russia, U.S.