Jun 4, 2009

The Swine, or, Pork Wars...


Sensing opportunity, Russia "has added Utah to the list of U.S. states from which imports of live pigs and pork are banned due to the H1N1 virus, the country's animal and plant watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor said on Thursday."

To review: "The spread of the virus, commonly known as swine flu, is not caused by pigs and pork."

Silly Russians. They just don't get it, right? Wrong.

In fact, this has to be one of the most brilliant covers for trade protectionism ever devised. If there was a used-car flu, you can bet the farm there'd be a Russian ban on car imports to protect the country's auto industry. Avian flu? Well, the U.S. and Russia have already gone 12 rounds over chicken imports.

The Russian government "gets it" better than anyone else .

2 comments:

The Expatresse said...

Crazy like a fox, those Ruskis.

Pirates(and)Diplomats said...

/agreed

=)