In December 2008, the United States and Russia signed a protocol aimed at resolving various emerging trade issues between the two countries in order to continue U.S. livestock and poultry exports to Russia through the end of 2009. By December 2009, however, Russia had escalated these trade issues in a series of actions that threatened to effectively shut out U.S. livestock and poultry exports. These actions, in part, followed on Russia's threats throughout 2008 and 2009 regarding its concerns about antimicrobial use in U.S. meat production. Efforts to resolve these issues were making progress in early 2010. Foreign sales are a critical source of income for the U.S. meat and poultry industries. Russia has become an important, and expanding, market. It purchased more than $1.2 billion in U.S. meat and poultry in 2008, more than double the amount purchased a decade earlier ( Table 1 ). In 2008, Russia was the single largest export market for U.S. poultry products, with exports valued at more than $820 million (about 18% of total U.S. poultry exports). Russia was also among the leading export markets for U.S. pork and beef products, valued at $330 million and nearly $70 million, respectively. Each of these export categories had also experienced strong growth in the Russian market ( Table 1 ). Russia was among the countries to ban U.S. beef imports after the December 2003 discovery of a cow in the United States with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or mad cow disease), but it not had been a major purchaser of such products before then. Russia is again accepting U.S. beef and veal, with imports in 2008 nearing pre-2003 levels. Agriculture has been a sensitive part of the economy throughout Russian (and Soviet) history. Its political importance far outweighs its share of the Russian economy (5.2% of Russian GDP in 2009). Agriculture has been severely affected by the transition to a market economy, as much as, or more than, any other economic sector. According to one estimate, agricultural production has declined about 40% in volume since 1991, with much of the decline occurring in livestock production. Russia is not competitive in global markets for red meats and poultry, and its domestic production has not kept pace with consumption as incomes rise. In recent years, imports have accounted for half or more of Russian poultry consumption, even though government policies have attempted to encourage domestic production. On January 30, 2010, for example, the Russian President signed a new Food Security Doctrine outlining the country's agricultural production and policy goals. Among other things it sets minimum self-sufficiency (i.e., domestic source) targets for various commodity groups. For meat and meat products, the document sets a target of at least 85%, although no deadline for meeting this target was established. Russia has been one of the major world importers in recent years of meat and poultry products. Imports have accounted for roughly 30% of pork consumption, and roughly 40% of both poultry and beef/veal. Some analysts conclude that this domestic situation underlies Russian actions that periodically have constrained the country's imports of poultry and meat products. The Russian federal government has been under pressure from regional and local governments and from factions within the Russian parliament to protect agriculture from further erosion and to provide time and resources to permit it to become competitive. One major trade constraint was Russia's imposition, in early 2003, of new import quotas on poultry, and of tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) on beef and pork, affecting not only the United States but other exporting countries. At that time, Russia's poultry quotas threatened what had become an important market for U.S. producers. Although sales of U.S. pork and beef to Russia accounted for a relatively smaller share of total exports, U.S. industry officials contended that the new pork and beef TRQs would effectively block any future U.S. growth. In 2005 the United States and Russia signed an agreement that set quota levels for Russian imports of U.S. poultry, pork, and beef products through 2009. In 2008, under the agreement, the United States had 901,400 MT or 74% of Russia's worldwide quota of 1,211,600 MT for poultry. The U.S. allocation for pork was 49,800 MT or 10% of Russia's 2008 worldwide TRQ (493,500 MT), and for beef was 18,300 MT or 18% of Russia's 2008 global TRQ (445,000 MT; Table 2 ). Quota levels for 2009 were adjusted in a protocol to the 2005 agreement that lowered the 2009 quota for poultry but raised the TRQ for pork. For 2009, the United States had 750,000 MT or 79% of Russia's global poultry quota (952,000 MT); the U.S. allocation for pork was 100,000 MT or 19% of Russia's global pork TRQ (531,900 MT). The beef TRQ was virtually unchanged ( Table 2 ). Russia's import tariff for poultry products under quota is about 25%. Under the beef and pork TRQ, the in-quota tariff is 15%. Russia's out-of quota tariffs on beef and pork imports are prohibitive at 60%-80%, depending on the product. In December 2009, media reports first indicated that Russia has reduced its 2010 global import quotas for pork and poultry below 2009 quota levels. Within these global totals, 2010 quota levels for U.S. pork are more than 40% lower than the previous year, at 57,500 MT in 2010 compared to 100,000 MT in 2009. Quota allocations for U.S. poultry are 600,000 MT in 2010, down from 750,000 MT in 2009. U.S. quota allocations reportedly are to be reduced even further in both 2011 and 2012. Russia's beef import quotas, both global and for the United States, reportedly increased above 2009 levels, from 450,000 MT to 560,000 MT, and from 18,500 MT to 21,700 MT, respectively, for 2010. Russia periodically has imposed sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures that have impeded U.S. meat and poultry imports in recent years. For example, in March 2002, Russia announced a ban on U.S. poultry imports because of the possible presence of avian influenza in the United States. U.S. officials countered that the ban was not scientifically defensible and was discriminatory. Months of negotiations ensued, extending into 2003, when the two sides announced a resolution to the dispute. Nonetheless, U.S. meat and poultry exporters remain wary that Russia could continue to raise safety concerns as a reason to impose future import bans. Exporter concerns were reawakened in June 2008 when Russia announced it would block U.S. poultry imports by prohibiting the use of chlorine in antimicrobial washes to kill surface pathogens on poultry, a common U.S. industry practice (discussed in the section " Poultry Products "). The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) reported in March 2010: Russia's SPS standards are extremely prescriptive with detailed requirements for facilities and production processes. Russia has attempted to impose these requirements on trading partners by accepting imports only from facilities that are certified as complying with Russian requirements. Since these requirements are not always based on science or consistent with international recommendations or guidelines, this has created difficulties for U.S. exporters of a range of products. With regard to livestock products, the report noted, "Russia requests certification that the United States is free from various livestock diseases even when there is no risk of transmission from the product in question." In 2003, when Russia announced the imposition of quotas and TRQs for meat and poultry, the United States and other meat-exporting WTO member countries expressed stiff opposition, claiming that the restrictions would slow the process of Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). The United States and others specifically argued that Russia was violating the "standstill" principle, under which countries applying for WTO membership are to refrain from imposing new trade restrictions during the accession process. Russia countered that it was imposing the restrictions to protect its domestic meat producers from import surges, a right that is enjoyed by WTO members. As noted earlier, in June 2005 the United States and Russia signed an agreement on livestock and poultry trade, which set the U.S. share of Russia's worldwide quota for poultry, and its share of the TRQs for pork and beef, through the end of calendar 2009 ( Table 2 ). The "2005 U.S.-Russia Agreement on Trade in Certain Types of Poultry, Beef, and Pork" also set rules for the allocation of veterinary permits and import licenses necessary to ship products to Russia, and established mechanisms for resolving trade-related problems, including sanitary issues. In November 2006, the United States and Russia reached a bilateral market access agreement associated with Russia's request to join the WTO. The agreement provided for phased reductions in Russia's tariffs for a range of U.S. export sectors, including agricultural products. These commitments would come into force upon Russia's accession to the WTO. The agreement allowed the United States to address a broad number of sensitive issues in its economic relations with Russia, although it did not accomplish all of the original U.S. objectives.