Russia Restricts US Meat Imports

Russian health regulators announced formidable new barriers to the import of meat from the United States late on Friday, in a move some analysts saw as retaliation for American legislation (the "Magnitsky Act") punishing Russian officials linked to human rights violations. The new Russian regulation requires imported meat to undergo testing for and be certified free of ractopamine, which is added to animal feed in the United States to make meat more lean. The United States Department of Agriculture considers ractopamine safe and does not test for it. The move would potentially make the United States, which exports more than $500 million a year worth of beef and pork to Russia, significantly less competitive, giving advantage to Chinese and European Union meat producers, where ractopamine is banned. Gennady Onishchenko, Russia's chief health inspector and head of the state consumer protection agency Rospotrebnadzor, denied the requirement of testing and certifying meat imports was retaliatory.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/09/world/europe/russia-announces-barriers-on-imports-of-us-meat.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/08/russia-meat-usa-idUSL5E8N82UZ20121208