Top US poultry buyer Russia has imposed a temporary ban on poultry and poultry product imports from another US state, Texas, for fear of spreading bird flu, the Agriculture Ministry said on Friday.
"Upon receiving official information that bird flu had been discovered in Texas, the veterinary service suspended imports of poultry and poultry products," a ministry spokeswoman said.
She did not specify the source of the official information.
Earlier this month Russia suspended poultry and poultry product imports from the state of Delaware, where the virus had been discovered.
Agriculture Minister Alexei Gordeyev has said that the ban could be extended to the neighbouring states or to the whole of the United States if Russia obtained official confirmation that the virus had spread outside Delaware's borders.
But on Tuesday, Gordeyev said Russia would not ban imports from Pennsylvania, as the strain of virus discovered there posed no threat. He added Moscow was awaiting test results from New Jersey before deciding whether to ban imports from that state.
The spokeswoman did not say if a decision had been taken.
The United States is allowed to export 771,900 tonnes of poultry meat to Russia this year.
Comments
Comments are closed.