The National Chicken Council welcomed the news today that Russia has agreed to allow imports of U.S.-produced chicken under certain conditions.
“The reopening of the Russian market is good news for American chicken producers and processors,” NCC President George Watts said in a statement. “We thank President Obama and government officials and members of Congress who were involved in resolving this issue.”
A full assessment of the impact on the U.S. chicken industry depends on the details and implementation of the agreement reached by U.S. and Russian officials and announced today by President Obama. Many members of Congress had urged the President to address the issue in his meetings with Russian President Medvedev.
Before Russia imposed a cutoff of U.S. chicken imports, the trade was worth as much as $800 million per
year.
Dozens of members of the House and Senate, including Senators Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas and Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, chairman and ranking minority member respectively of the Senate Agriculture Committee, wrote to President Obama to urge speedy resolution of the issue.
The National Chicken Council is the trade association for vertically integrated chicken production and processing companies. Member companies of NCC account for about 95 percent of the broiler chickens produced in the United States.
