WASHINGTON – Following Russia’s announcement that it is lifting a months-long ban of U.S. pork products, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (F.S.I.S.) has published a revised list of plants eligible to export pork and pork products to Russia. Included in the list are 13 slaughtering facilities and many more cold storage and boxing operations.

To see the listing: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Frame/FrameRedirect.asp?main=http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OFO/export/lrupork.htm.

Requirements mandate that eligible pork and pork byproducts must be produced under an approved Agricultural Marketing Service (A.M.S.) Export Verification (E.V.) program for pork to Russia to ensure that Russia's tetracycline and microbiological standards are being met.

A discrepancy remains, however, between the F.S.I.S. list of eligible cold storage plants and those cold storage plants listed by Russia. In order to be eligible to export pork to Russia, the cold storage plant must be listed on the F.S.I.S. Web site. F.S.I.S. and A.M.S. are requiring any establishment handling unpackaged product to conduct microbiological testing because of the potential for contamination.