U.S.-based exporters of poultry to Russia will not fill the quota for chicken meat imports into Russia set for 2010, according to Gennady Onishchenko, who serves as Russia’s public health chief and the head of the country’s consumer rights inspectorate Rospotrebnadzor. As of the first day of December, only 136 000 tons of poultry have been exported to Russia. The total quota for the U.S. is 600 000 tons. Thus, it would be extremely unlikely that the whole quota will be filled. The imports of poultry to Russia from the United States restarted in September. For almost three quarters of the years, poultry imports from the U.S. were banned because of Russia’s objections to the use of chlorine. Meanwhile, the shortage of imported chicken meat was compensated for by domestic production. Gennady Onishchenko expressed hope that domestic producers will continue to supply large volumes of poultry to the market next year.