Poultry meat producers in the United States have agreed to stop using chlorine in processing products for exports to Russia, Interfax news agency quoted Russian consumer protection watchdog as saying. “We have been informed that American producers are switching to poultry meat production without using chlorine and that they want to restart exports to Russia as soon as possible,” Gennady Onishchenko, head of Rospotrebnadzor, said. “We welcome the American side’s willingness to comply with Russian standards,” he said, adding imports could be restarted after Moscow gets an official confirmation of U.S. producers consent to stop using chlorine. Russia, the biggest export market for U.S. poultry, banned supplies from Jan. 19 after saying a chlorine wash used routinely in U.S. processing plants was in violation of its food safety standards. Washington says its poultry is safe. Two rounds of talks, both held under tight secrecy in Moscow, have failed to yield an agreement. Onishchenko, who has said little about the negotiations, said in the middle of March: “progress is evident and stunning.” He did not elaborate. (Reuters)