Brazil Offers to Boost Chicken Export to Russia

MEXICO CITY, August 7 (RIA Novosti) – Brazil’s meat and poultry industry could compensate for US chicken deliveries to Russia after Moscow banned all agricultural products from the United States in response to stiffer economic penalties, according to Francisco Turra, president of the Brazilian Poultry Association.

Turra said Brazil, the world’s largest chicken exporter, was ready to bump up its export figures to Russia by 150,000 tons, in addition to the current 60,000.

Twenty poultry plants in Brazil have been licensed to supply Russia with chicken, and their number will continue to grow, Francisco Turra added.

On Tuesday, the Brazilian government also said it planned to expand supplies of meat, meat by-products and dairy products to Russia.

Argentinian meat producers earlier expressed their interest in increasing exports to Russia following President Putin’s announcement.

“The Russian market is and has always been interesting to Argentina. The only sad fact for Argentina’s industries is that there are export restrictions imposed by the country’s government," Miguel Schiariti, the head of Argentina’s chamber of meats industry and trade, said.

The Russian leader on Wednesday ordered the government to draw up a list of agricultural and food products from countries that had imposed sanctions on Russia for one year.

The complete blacklist of products is expected to be announced Thursday.

Russia’s agricultural watchdog, Rosselkhoznadzor, said it would hold consultations on Thursday with several Latin American countries, including Ecuador, Brazil, Chile and Argentina, to discuss the expansion of their food exports to Russia.

Russia’s ban on imports comes as a counter-measure to the most recent economic penalties imposed by the United States and the European Union.

Moscow has stated repeatedly that imposing sanctions against Russia will have a negative effect on the economies of countries that impose them and called the language of sanctions counterproductive.