Kyrgyzstan suspends acceptance of USDA meat, poultry export certificate
USDA working to resolve the issue
13 December 2023
2 minute read
By: The Veterinary Service of Kyrgyzstan's Ministry of Agriculture has informed the US Department of Agriculture in private correspondence that they will no longer accept USDA FSIS meat and poultry export certificates, as well as export certificates for fish and fish products.
The USDA GAIN report that shared this information did not disclose why the certificates will no longer be accepted. It did say, however, that the US government is actively engaged in trying to reopen the market and "working to resolve the issue with utmost haste."
According to a 2022 report from the International Trade Administration, the Kyrgyz Republic has an underdeveloped meat market, despite aid from the United States that was used to help establish a modern slaughterhouse for cattle in the Naryn region.
According to the 2022 report, there is much potential for the development of a poultry market. However, industrial poultry production has been in decline since the 1990s, a phenomenon the International Trade Administration said is due to a lack of qualified specialists. USAID did provide technical assistance in the development of the country's only industrial-scale poultry farm, capable of producing poultry meat from egg incubation to delivery of finished products.
"There is an increasing demand for chicken quarters, which is largely satisfied by EAEU member-countries, predominantly Kazakhstan and Russia," the report concluded.
US poultry transiting through Russia and Kazakhstan, and destined for the Kyrgyz Republic, faced a number of bureaucratic hurdles at that time.
Import volume of meat and poultry to the Kyrgyz Republic is unknown.
