Russia published a notice on December 31 setting forth the following provisions for the imports of poultry and meats.
- Frozen bone-in chicken halves-cuts (HS codes 0207 14 200 1 and 0207 14 600 1, which includes leg quarters), Tariff rate quota (TRQ) 250,000 metric tons
- Frozen boneless chicken (HS code 0207 14 100 1), TRQ 70,000 tons (56,000 tons for European Union and 14,000 tons for all countries)
- Frozen turkey meat (HS code 0207 27 100 1), TRQ 10,000 tons for all countries.
Russian Ministry of Economic Development assigned Russian company-specific quota allocations prior to December 31 of 25 percent of the TRQ, with remaining allocations to be distributed before April 15. Also, the December 31 notice instructs the Russian Veterinary Service (VPSS) and the Federal Sanitary Surveillance Service (Ropspotrebnadzor) to inform all relevant government agencies within three days of any outstanding import restrictions on specific countries or individual suppliers.
Another official document (Decision 865) published on December 15 listed the TRQs for meats and poultry for 2012 for the Customs Union of Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus. Customs Union Decision 865 sets separate quotas for beef, pork, and poultry for all three countries for Russia. The decision lowers the 2012 poultry TRQ for Russia by 20,000 tons to 330,000 tons, while setting the poultry TRQ for Kazakhstan at 110,000 tons, and 15,000 tons for Belarus. None of these quantities is country-specific and will be open to all Customs Union trading partners. Customs Union TRQs for 2012 are as follows:
| 2012 Poultry TRQs for the Customs Unions Member Countries | |||
| Description of Goods | Belarus | Kazakhstan | Russia |
| Thousand metric tons | |||
| Poultry meat and byproducts under position 0105, fresh, chilled and frozen (CU HS 0207) | 15 | 110 | – |
| Frozen deboned chicken meat (CU HS 0207 14 200 1) | 70 | ||
| Frozen bone-in chicken legs and cuts from them (CU HS 0207 14 600 1) | 250 | ||
| Frozen deboned turkey meat (CU HS 020702070100 1) | 10 | ||
The TRQs and related arrangements will be afforded the United States until Russia’s Duma officially votes on Russia joining the World Trade Organization (WTO). That vote could take place in April 2012. If the U.S. Congress has not addressed the Jackson-Vanik provision and granted Russia permanent normal trade relations, Russia will have the option under WTO rules to discontinue the TRQ arrangements being afforded the United States.
