Germany's Bavaria to Export 10,000 Tons Beef to Russia...

BERLIN -- The German state of Bavaria will export 10,000 tons of beef to Russia in a deal worth 40 million German marks ($19 million), with an option for another 10,000 tons, the state agriculture ministry said on Wednesday.

"These agreements are a conclusion of our already close cooperation with Russia, they relieve the overflowing Bavarian beef market and send a positive sign to our cattle growers," the ministry said in a press release.

Since the discovery of the first bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) case last November, German beef prices and consumption have dropped dramatically and the government has had to join the EU's cattle cull scheme to relieve market pressure.

The ministry said that the deal with Russia was struck during Bavarian agricultural minister Josef Miller's visit to the Prodexpo 2001 food fair in Moscow.

It added that the meat of cattle between the age of 16 and 18 months, with a slaughter weight of 350 to 400 kilograms, will be exported.

The Russian Journal