Australia

Russia bans Australian beef by-products

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Russia is temporarily banning the import of beef by-products from Australia, citing the detection in shipments of a growth stimulant it prohibits, throwing into doubt exports that brought in around A$10 million ($8.81 million) last year for Australia.

The ban will be imposed from Jan. 27 and is prompted by the detection in several shipments of the growth stimulant, Russia’s Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance Service said in a statement on Thursday.

Most countries permit the use of the hormonal growth promotant Trenbolone but Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States prohibit their presence in beef imports, analysts said.

Russia imported 12,435 tons of beef offal from Australia in the first 11 months of 2013, according to industry data, worth A$10.5 million. Industry body Meat and Livestock Australia said the Russian market was worth about 10 percent of annual Australian beef offal exports.

Russia imported 1.1 million tons of red meat worth $4.5 billion in January-November 2013, according to official customs data.

www.themoscowtimes.com

Russia may suspend beef imports from Australia

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The Russian veterinary watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor may ban imports of beef from Australia starting January 15 due to the detection of trenbolone, a steroid used to increase muscle growth in livestock, which is banned in Russia.

“The Australian veterinary service has time before January 15 to review the lists of suppliers to Russia and exclude those using trenbolone from them,” Rosselkhoznadzor chief Sergei Dankvert told Interfax. “If this is not done and the Australian veterinary service continues to simply sign veterinary certificates, we will have to limit beef imports from all enterprises that are on the list of suppliers to Russia,” Dankvert said. This measure will primarily concern suppliers of chilled beef, which is considered a higher-risk product, he said.

What makes the situation more complicated is that, in addition to trenbolone-containing meat discovered earlier, new such cases have been revealed lately, Dankvert said. “In addition to two companies that were earlier found to export meat containing the growth stimulant, two more have joined now,” Dankvert said, adding that beef imports from Australia are under Rosselkhoznadzor’s special control.

“The enterprises caught [on using trenbolone] will be deprived of the right to ship meat to Russia, but if such discoveries become massive, protection measures will be different,” he said.

Australia is among major beef suppliers to Russia. The list of beef exporters includes 47 enterprises, and imports to Russia from 8 of them have been banned for various reasons.

www.interfax.com