RUSSIAN VET SERVICE STOPS SHIPMENTS OF

UNCLAS MOSCOW 000265 SENSITIVE SIPDIS USDA FAS FOR OCRA/KUYPERS; OSTA/HAMILTON, BEAN; ONA/TING, SALLYARDS, MURPHY PASS APHIS MITCHELL, BURLESON, TANIEWSKI STATE FOR EUR/RUS STATE PASS USTR FOR CHATTIN BRUSSELS PASS APHIS/FERNANDEZ VIENNA PASS APHIS/TANAKA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAGR ETRD ECON WTO RS SUBJECT: RUSSIAN VET SERVICE STOPS SHIPMENTS OF U.S. PET FOOD AND ANIMAL FEED REF: A) SMITH/KUYPERS EMAIL 12/29/08 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The Russian Federal Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance Service (VPSS) has halted trade of U.S. pet food, animal feed and animal feed additives as of January 1, 2009. VPSS officials have advised that trade can resume only after USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) provides lists of U.S. manufacturers that currently export to Russia. In late December of 2008, USDA received a letter from VPSS with a reminder of an impending ban if the lists were not provided. The original scanned copy of the letter and courtesy translation were sent to FAS/OCRA on December 29, 2008 (REF A). An informal embassy translation of the letter follows. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) BEGIN TEXT: Moscow, December 26, 2008 No. FS-NV-2/13281 Dr. Robert Tanaka, Area Director for Eastern Europe USDA Animal and Plant Inspection Service The Federal Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance Service (VPSS) extends its regards to the USDA Animal and Plant Inspection Service (APHIS) and informs you of the following: In our letters FS-AS-2/11553 dated November 14, 2008, and FS-NV-2/12384 dated December 5, 2008, VPSS informed about the necessity of receiving lists of the U.S. manufacturers of animal feed and feed additives that are exporting products to the Russian Federation and that currently have contracts with Russian partners for shipping such products. In addition, we requested guarantees that these facilities are under permanent control of the U.S. veterinary service and that they will fulfill in the full scale all Russian veterinary- sanitary requirements and norms. To date the U.S. side has not provided us with the above-mentioned lists of U.S. establishments. This lack of action on your behalf will lead to a serious barrier to trade of animal feed and feed additives between our countries. VPSS will not be able to issue import permits for shipments of feed as of 2009 from the United States to the Russian Federation until the mentioned materials have been provided. Please accept, Mr. Tanaka, assurances of my deep respect for you. Deputy Head N.A. Vlasov END TEXT. ¶3. (SBU) In early January 2009, VPSS advised Post that the request for a list of U.S. animal feed facilities exporting to Russia included pet food even though it was not specifically mentioned in any of the three letters sent to APHIS since November 2008. Post received assurances from VPSS officials that initial lists of U.S. pet food and animal feed manufacturers do not need to be complete and can be modified at any time by APHIS. Until these lists are provided, VPSS will not issue import permits keeping our industries from Russia's growing market for these commodities. In 2008, U.S. exports of pet food and animal feed (including feed additives) reached an estimated $30 million. ¶4. (SBU) COMMENT: Post strongly recommends that APHIS and FAS coordinate a response (with input from industry representatives) that includes lists of U.S. pet food and animal feed facilities to VPSS as soon as possible. As usual, VPSS stated in the letter that the U.S. facilities must fully meet all Russian import requirements although many of them do not comply with international standards. APHIS may want to consider responding by stating that product from the U.S. pet food and animal feed facilities meets the requirements per our bilaterally- negotiated veterinary certificates. VPSS has made it clear that request for lists of U.S. facilities that export additional agricultural products to Russia will grow. As a result, it would behoove APHIS to develop a strategy as soon as possible to deal with this and all future requests for lists since it appears to be the wave of the future. END COMMENT. BEYRLE