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June 17, 2011—Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson and Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley are leading a bipartisan effort to encourage U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk to further open the Russian market for American pork.
“Pork is an important industry in Nebraska. I am asking for fair treatment for Nebraska and U.S. pork producers,” Senator Nelson said. “Russia’s restrictions on American pork not only violate WTO rules, but are harmful to the Nebraska pork industry and the U.S. pork industry.”
Nelson and Grassley sent a letter to Kirk late on Thursday, encouraging him to advocate for U.S. pork producers in the World Trade Organization negotiations with Russia. The letter received bipartisan support, with 28 signatures from senators concerned about unfair restrictions in U.S. pork exports to Russia and the negative impact on U.S. pork producers.
According to the National Pork Producers Council, Nebraskans have lost $15 million in pork sales and many local jobs in the industry due to reductions in pork exports to Russia.
“Pork producers in Nebraska are grateful Senator Ben Nelson and nearly one-third of his Senate colleagues have joined together to urge the administration to obtain commitments from Russia on issues that will allow more U.S. pork to be exported there,” said Bill Luckey, a pork producer from Columbus, Neb., and a member of the board of the National Pork Producers Council. “Russia is an important market for the U.S. pork industry, and we appreciate Senator Nelson’s efforts to secure assurances that before Russia joins the WTO it will abide by all the trade rules and standards.”
In addition to Senators Nelson and Grassley, Senators Stabenow, Roberts, Johanns, Coats, Inhofe, Burr, Blunt, Moran, Klobuchar, Franken, Kohl, Boozman, Kirk, McCaskill, Conrad, Durbin, Sherrod Brown, Cochran, Hagan, Thune, Wicker, Chambliss, Warner, Ron Johnson, Portman, and Tim Johnson joined in the effort.
The full text of the letter is below:
Dear Ambassador Kirk,
We understand the benefits which could accrue to the United States by bringing Russia into the rules-based trading system of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The WTO provides a platform whereby nations can settle trade disputes and enhance nations’ abilities to bring economic growth to their people. However, Russia should not be allowed to use the WTO accession negotiations as a first step in the dispute resolution process for matters in which it is already in violation of WTO principles.
Russia represents a valuable market for U.S. pork. As little as three years ago, Russia was one of the largest export markets for U.S. pork producers. It remains a vital export market for U.S. farmers and meat processors. However, two major developments over the last few years have resulted in a drastic decline in the amount of pork being exported to Russia.
The first development pertains to a 2008 Meat Agreement Russia entered into with the United States. Through that agreement, Russia committed to allocate to the U.S. 100,000 metric tons of a global import tariff-rate quota (TRQ) of 534,000 metric tons for pork. However, Russia subsequently and unilaterally reduced the global TRQ to 472,100 metric tons and the U.S. share to just 57,500 metric tons. It is our understanding that Russian officials have indicated they want to further reduce the global TRQ, but are offering to keep the U.S. volume at around 57,500 metric tons, thus increasing the U.S. share of the overall TRQ. However, this gesture does not address the fact the U.S. allocation will still only be about half of the level agreed to in the 2008 Meat Agreement.
The United States pork industry is the lowest cost producer and number one exporter in the world. The pork industry represents a vital cog in the U.S. agricultural economy. Therefore, the amount of pork U.S. producers are able to export to Russia is an important issue for pork producers. The U.S. share of the overall Russian pork quota should be increased back to the levels agreed upon in the 2008 Meat Agreement.
The second major development negatively impacting U.S. pork exports to Russia is Russia’s implementation of an array of unjustifiable sanitary restrictions. According to the WTO Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures (SPS Agreement), WTO members recognize the sanitary measures of other trading partners as equivalent to their own if the measures meet certain criteria. We believe U.S. producers are more than meeting the requisite standards. However, Russia has used its sanitary restrictions as a justification to delist U.S. pork plants from being eligible to ship products to Russia. At present, U.S. plants representing 60 percent of U.S. pork production capacity are banned from exporting pork to Russia. The Russian restrictions are not supported by science or valid risk assessments.
In the past, we have been able to use the WTO accession process to obtain commitments from other countries that they will recognize U.S. plant inspections as fully equivalent to their own. This was true for both the China and Vietnam accessions into the WTO. We believe it is appropriate to request Russia make the same type of commitment before it gains membership into the WTO.
The TRQ and SPS issues related to the pork industry are not the only matters Russia needs to address prior to gaining membership into the WTO. However, we believe that if Russia commits to abide by the terms of the 2008 Meat Agreement and WTO SPS Agreement, it will mark a positive step forward in Russia’s accession process.
We are confident Russia’s entry into the WTO can enhance our nation’s trade relationship with Russia, and that it will benefit the people of Russia as their country continues to move towards a more market-based economy. However, we advise that Russia make the necessary commitments outlined above prior to membership, and we ask that you work to that end. Thank you for your consideration.
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