US ‘Deeply Concerned’ Over Russia Meat Ban

The United States is “deeply concerned” by Russia’s decision this week to ban US beef and pork imports containing the feed additive ractopamine, a move Washington believes could undermine bilateral ties, a spokeswoman for the White House’s chief trade adviser said Thursday. “These actions threaten to undermine our bilateral trade relationship,” Andrea Mead, a spokeswoman for the office of US Trade Representative (USTR) Ron Kirk, told RIA Novosti on Thursday. Russia’s federal food safety agency announced Wednesday that it will institute a temporary ban on US beef and pork imports beginning Feb. 11, saying its American counterpart, the US Food Safety and Inspection Service, failed to guarantee that these shipments would be free of the additive, which promotes growth in livestock. The dispute comes at a time of increasingly strained relations between the United States and Russia over human rights and international adoptions.

http://en.ria.ru/business/20130131/179153499/US-Deeply-Concerned-Over-Russia-Meat-Ban.html