Thu., January 14, 2010 3:57pm (EST)

Russian Chicken Ban Hurts Georgia

By Josephine Bennett

Updated: 3 years ago

MACON, Ga.  —   Georgia agriculture officials are heading to Russia next week to try to reverse a ban on most U.S. chicken. The Russians say they don't want to buy chicken sterilized with chlorine. So as of January 1st they quit buying from producers in the U.S.

Georgia is the country's number one chicken producer. The bird's economic impact here is 15-billion dollars a year. Twenty-percent of that chicken is exported according to Jim Sumner with the U.S. Poultry and Egg Export Council in Stone Mountain.

"Approximately a third of it goes to Russia. So this is certainly very significant."

Sumner says he will travel to Russia with the USDA officials in an effort to rescind the ban.