Russia resumed imports from nine Brazilian beef and pork processing facilities on Thursday

Russia resumed imports from nine Brazilian beef and pork processing facilities on Thursday, a move the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) called a positive because it could ease the volume of Brazilian products going into other markets.Russia’s ban on Brazilian red meat had been in force since December 2017 due to the alleged presence of ractopamine in Brazilian animal protein products sent to Russia. Russia's agriculture safety watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor announced the lifting of the ban on the nine plants on Wednesday.According to USMEF, markets that have seen a large influx of Brazilian pork in 2018, due in part to the closure of the Russian market, include China/Hong Kong, Singapore, Argentina, Angola, Chile and the Philippines. Brazil's beef exports are significantly higher year over year to China/Hong, Egypt, Chile and Uruguay.U.S. pork and beef do not have access to the Russian market, so a shift in Brazilian export volumes to Russia would benefit U.S. exporters. “We see it as a positive development,” USMEF spokesman Joe Schuele said in an email to Meatingplace.The nine plantsBrazilian processors Minerva S.A., Barra Mansa Comércio de Carnes e Derivados Ltda, Agra Agroindustrial de Alimentos S.A., Frigorífico Astra do Paraná Ltda and Frigorífico Vale do Sapucaí Ltda had facilities authorized to resume beef exports to Russia.Two pork processing facilities owned by Alibem Alimentos, one by Adelle Indústria de Alimentos Ltda and another by Aurora Alimentos have also been authorized to resume sales.  Russia's statement on the end of its restrictions did not cite all the Brazilian beef and pork meat processing facilities that were banned from trade last year.Brazil's Minister of Agriculture Blairo Maggi welcomed the Russian decision. “It's difficult to open the market, it's easy to lose the market and it's much harder to win them back. We are all very happy with this news,” he said in a message posted on Facebook.Russia used to be Brazil's largest pork meat importer before the embargo. Brazilian pork industry association ABPA estimates that the country lost exports totaling roughly 230,400 metric tonnes of pork meat to Russia due to the embargo, a volume equivalent to 40 percent of the country's total pork meat exported globally during the period.