Moscow is ready for a second round of talks with the United States to resolve a spat over U.S. poultry supplies, Federal Consumer Protection Service head Gennady Onishchenko said Thursday.
"We are open for talks. I again confirmed our willingness to get to the negotiations table at any moment. Now the ball is in the court of American partners," Onishchenko said.
He said he invited the United States to send a delegation to Moscow "at any convenient time."
The government, which spent $800 million on U.S. poultry in 2008, has banned imports from its largest supplier on concerns about the common U.S. practice of treating the meat with chlorine to kill bacteria that can cause food poisoning.
Russia suspended U.S. poultry imports from Jan. 19 and has taken a hard line with Washington, accusing it of flouting food safety laws. The United States says its poultry is safe and some critics say Russia's ban could be politically motivated.
Talks between Russian watchdog bodies and visiting U.S. officials ended last month without any commitment from Moscow to reopen its market.
Importers have started seeking other suppliers, the head of the country's meat industry lobby has said.
The President of the USA Poultry and Eggs Export Council said Wednesday that U.S. poultry producers had put forward a potential solution to the dispute, but declined to disclose the actual proposal.
First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov said Russia could consider granting the U.S. suppliers a transition period for adopting Russian standards should they ask for one, Interfax reported.
"Let's see what period of time they will require and what volumes may be supplied," he said.
• In a separate statement, the Federal Veterinary and Phytosanitary Inspection Service said it had held talks in Moscow with representatives of the U.S. Meat Export Federation, at which U.S. suppliers accepted its demands.
"The U.S. side on behalf of animal products' makers and exporters fully agreed to the appropriateness of the service's demand that such products supplied to the Russian market should correspond to safety standards determined by the Russian legislation," it said.
A spokesman said the talks centered on U.S. pork supplies to Russia.
Russia has curtailed U.S. pork imports citing the presence of an antibiotic.