MOSCOW/SYDNEY (Reuters) — Russia is temporarily banning the import of beef byproducts from Australia, citing the detection of a growth stimulant it prohibits.
The decision throws into doubt exports that brought in about $10 million last year for Australia.
The ban, which will be imposed starting Jan. 27, was prompted by the detection of the growth stimulant in several shipments, Russia’s Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance Service said.
“The suspension has been put in place following the detection of residues of the hormonal growth promotant trenbolone in a small number of export consignments,” said a spokesperson for Australia’s agriculture department.
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Most countries permit the use of trenbolone, but Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States prohibit their presence in beef imports, analysts said.
Australia’s agriculture department has reiterated Russia’s requirements to meat exporters and moved to strengthen its certification requirements for products exported to Russia, the spokesperson said.
Russia imported 12,435 tonnes of beef offal from Australia in the first 11 months of 2013, according to industry data, worth $10 million.
Meat and Livestock Australia said the Russian market was worth 10 percent of annual Australian beef offal exports.
The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association said trenbolone is approved for use in Canada and the United States, but Canada has shipped virtually no beef to Russia since it banned beef produced with the growth stimulant ractopamine last year. The ban also affected U.S. beef.
“Just throw it on the pile of issues, things that Russia is doing and not abiding by science, not abiding by (trade) rules,” said John Masswohl, the CCA’s director of government and international relations.
The use of trenbolone is a non-issue in the U.S. because of the Russian ban on U.S. beef, but it could indirectly affect U.S. beef sales efforts to other counties, said Livestock Marketing Information director Jim Robb.
“Australia will likely need to redirect their exports in the short term to other countries where the U.S. currently competes,” he said.
Australia is the world’s third largest beef exporter after the United States and Brazil.
More than 30 Australian firms are allowed to supply beef and byproducts to Russia.
Trenbolone has not been allowed for the purpose of enhancing growth in animals in Brazil since 2011, a spokesperson at Brazil’s agriculture ministry said.
Russia imported 1.1 million tonnes of red meat worth $4.9 billion in January-November 2013, according to official customs data.
