Senate Ag Committee Chairman Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., and Ranking Member Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., have written Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak pressing the government to fulfill its commitment to reopen its markets to U.S. poultry imports. Throughout the past three years U.S. poultry exports to Russia have averaged more than $800 million and Russia has been the largest export market for the United States. Lincoln says Russia's refusal to resume poultry trade with the U.S. shows a serious lack of commitment to the agreement reached in June. Chambliss says the actions of the Russians don't benefit them in the eyes of a lot of policymakers trying to make up their minds on other issues. He asks how we can trust the country on issues of nuclear weapon facilities if we can't work out a deal on chickens and expect them to keep their word.
The letter was sent just before U.S. negotiators were scheduled to meet with Russia in Geneva to try and resolve the dispute over the agreement. According to Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack, Russia has backed up on the agreement because they now want to regularly inspect U.S. poultry processing facilities.
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