THE erstwhile -cold war between, theus and Russia seems to have givenway to a war over chickens! If a threatened Russian poultry ban takes effect,yankee chickens may no longer bewelcome in Russia. Apparently,Russians are holding out the banthreat -as a measure to protect Russianconsumers against infected us poultryexports.
The Americans are, however, reading it differently. They say that the Russian stand is nothing but old-fashioned protectio*nism. But "we takethis issue very seriously", commentedDavid P Johnson, a White Housespokesperson. In fact, the, us depart-ment of agriculture (USDA) is all set toreview Russian trade ties on poultry.Last year, us poultry producers exportedmore than $500 million in frozen poultry to Russia. The exports have causedan alarm among Russian producers whofeel that the us is out to destroy the localindustry. Meanwhile, officials from theUSDA plan to retaliate if the Russian bancomes through by restricting Russianexports to US.