In a letter sent to Russia's ambassador to Washington, Sergey Kislyak, 30 US senators have expressed "deep concern with respect to Russia's failure to honor its recent commitment to allow US poultry products back into Russia."
"These actions are a setback to our countries' trade relations. We ask you to honor the commitment our two presidents made less than two months ago and implement the agreement without further delay."
The US Department of Agriculture gave the green light in late July for US poultry exporters to resume shipments to Russia after nearly a seven-month ban by what was once the largest foreign market for US chicken.
On January 1, Russia banned the import of chicken treated with chlorinated water, a procedure commonly used by US producers to disinfect. However, in late June US President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced a deal to end the dispute after talks at the White House.
US poultry exports to Russia averaged more than 800 million dollars in value over the past three years -- the largest such export market -- and accounted for some 500,000 jobs in the United States.
Source: AFP
