AGRICULTURE REPORT - Russia Lifts Ban on American Chickens

AGRICULTURE REPORT
–
May 7, 2002: Russia Lifts Ban on American Chickens

By George Grow

This is the VOA Special English AGRICULTURE REPORT.

American agriculture is recovering from a Russian ban on chicken imports from the United States. The Russian
government ended its month-long ban on American chicken and other poultry¹ products last month. Yet the
effects of the trade ban continue to affect American farmers and the American meat industry.

In recent weeks, prices for chicken and other poultry products dropped because of
fewer exports. Many Americans bought more chicken, but spent less on beef and
pork products. Because of this, beef and pork prices dropped, too. That is good news
for most people, but bad news for farmers.

Russia is the largest market for American poultry exports. Last year, American
producers earned more than six-hundred-million dollars from poultry exports to
Russia.

Russian officials announced the import ban in early March. They said American
poultry processing centers were not clean. They also objected to the poultry being
fed antibiotic² drugs and other chemicals.

American officials denied the poultry producers were in violation³ of Russian health rules. Some trade experts
suspect the ban had little to do with chicken or poultry products. They said Russian officials were angry about a
decision by President Bush to order high taxes on steel imports entering the United States. Steel is a major
Russian export.

For weeks, American officials negotiated⁴ with the Russian government to end the ban on poultry imports. Mister⁵
Bush even called Russian leader Vladimir Putin to urge an end to the dispute⁶. In late March, the two sides signed
an agreement. Russia agreed to end the ban on imports from all but four American states. Russian inspectors⁷
reportedly found diseased chickens from those states.

As part of the agreement, American agricultural officials now require poultry producers to have a new health
permit. They also require new methods to test chickens for salmonella bacteria. Salmonella has been linked to
food poisoning.

The day after the ban ended, Russia ’s Agriculture Ministry⁸ announced that Russian companies must have a new
permit if they plan to import American poultry. American officials warned that this requirement could delay the
recovery⁹ of American poultry sales.

This VOA Special English AGRICULTURE REPORT was written by George Grow.

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1 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?

2 antibiotic   

adj.抗菌的；n.抗生素

参考例句：

• The doctor said that I should take some antibiotic.医生说我应该服些用抗生素。
• Antibiotic can be used against infection.抗菌素可以用来防止感染。

3 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

4 negotiated   

谈判，协商，议定( negotiate的过去式和过去分词 )； 兑现（支票等）； 通过，越过（险要路段）

参考例句：

• The government negotiated with the opposition party over the new law. 政府就新法与反对党进行了协商。
• By careful strategy she negotiated a substantial pay rise. 她精心策划后，谈妥了大幅增加工资的事。

5 mister   

n.(略作Mr.全称很少用于书面)先生

参考例句：

• Mister Smith is my good friend.史密斯先生是我的好朋友。
• He styled himself " Mister Clean ".他自称是“清廉先生”。

6 dispute   

n.争端，分歧；v.争论，争吵，辩论，辩驳

参考例句：

• They are trying to find a way of settling the dispute.他们正设法寻找解决争端的办法。
• The parties to the dispute should be more polite to each other.争执双方应相互礼貌些。

7 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

9 recovery   

n.恢复，痊愈；追回，寻回，收复

参考例句：

• The doctors said that his recovery was a miracle. 医生们说他的复原是件奇事。
• The quick recovery was truly in response to medication.这次迅速康复确实是对药物治疗的反应。