Official Transcripts
Rebuttal to an Opinon Editorial Published by Krestyanskiye Vedomosti
Minister Counselor of Agricultural Affairs Allan Mustard
October 07, 2005
On October 7, Krestyanskiye vedomosti published an opinion editorial on the conditions for Russia's accession to the WTO required by the United States ("Commentary: Are we crawling into the WTO without trousers and honor?"). The editorial made five allegations that represent gross distortions of fact.
First, the commentary alleged that the Americans demand that USDA's veterinary service have authority to issue export permits for poultry meat, and that this will lead to a "subversion of sovereign rights" of Russia that could lead to shipment of food unfit for human consumption. In fact, America is simply requesting that Russia extend to America the same opportunity that America extends to countries that export meat to the United States, and that other countries extend to the U.S. This opportunity is based on the WTO principle of equivalence.
America imports over one and a half million tons of meat and edible offal per year from foreign suppliers. These foreign countries inspect their plants using international standards and use food safety measures equivalent to, but not necessarily identical to, U.S. measures. These foreign countries' veterinary services are spot-checked and audited periodically by the U.S. veterinary inspection service to ensure that the foreign country is providing accurate certification. We are asking for no more from Russia than we extend to other countries that export to us. As noted above, this is the standard international practice enshrined in the WTO agreement on sanitary and phytosanitary rules.
Second, Russia has received multiple assurances of the safety of U.S. beef, in the form of letters from competent American authorities to Russian counterparts. These include letters and documents delivered in the Russian language to the Russian veterinary service November 5, 2004; and January 11, April 19, June 29, July 1, July 18, July 20, July 21, and August 24, 2005. These documents have included responses to specific scientific questions posed by the Russian veterinary service. To date the American side has received no substantive response to this correspondence.
Third, with regard to trichina, America is merely asking that Russia recognize the internationally accepted practice of freezing pork to destroy trichinella. This practice is used in the United States. Russia insists on expensive testing of imported pork even after we have ensured that any trichinella have been destroyed through freezing. Russians eating U.S.-origin pork would eat the same product Americans do.
Fourth, regarding biotechnology, at present due to administrative reform, Russia has stopped approving and registering new biotechnology events. This means that as other countries move forward, Russia continues to fall behind in the adoption of this valuable technology. Furthermore, the biotechnology approval process in Russia is filled with "Catch-22s" which make approvals difficult to impossible under the best of conditions. America is requesting that Russia establish a biotechnology approval process that is transparent, science-based and that actually functions, while assuring safety for humans, agriculture and the environment. No fewer than three agencies of the U.S. Government regulate our approval process, and approvals in America come only after lengthy testing and review. We believe Russia should have a regulatory process that is no less rigorous, but also believe Russia's process should actually work.
Finally, with respect to transit of cargoes through Lithuania and Russia destined for Central Asia, the Russian side presented no complaints to the U.S. regarding the shipment of agricultural products through the port of Klaipeda. If in fact Russian authorities believe the United States authorities have failed to meet some requirement with regard to assuring the safety or documentation of a product transiting Russia, we would like to hear this directly from them, and not from the Russian media. Absent such a complaint, we believe that shipments across Russia should be allowed to proceed unimpeded.
We urge readers of Krestyanskiye vedomosti to become acquainted with U.S. agricultural positions from the primary source, the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Much information is already available in Russian on our website, http://usda.ru, and even more is in English at www.usda.gov.