Back in 1974 Senator Henry (Scoop) Jackson and Representative Charles Vanik introduced an amendment to a trade law with the purpose of punishing the Soviet Union and other communist countries for the denial of emigration rights to their citizens. At the time it was a justified decision, but in case someone forgot the evil empire has been gone since 1991. Unfortunately, for one of its former parts which never had any emigration restrictions, the Russian Federation, the Jackson-Vanik amendment remains in force.  Strictly speaking, the amendment has been a dead letter since 1994 due to a ritual of annual Presidential waivers based on humiliating compliance reviews. Yet it continues to be a constant irritant in U.S.-Russia relations, and therefore should be repealed for good without further delay. It is easier said than done as both the Clinton and Bush administrations tried to get rid of this amendment but failed miserably since the U.S. Congress has the authority to act and refuses to go along.   

It is pretty ironic, if not pathetic, that one of the most important stumbling blocks on the way to the repeal of the Jackson-Vanik amendment are innocent American chickens or “Bush legs,” as they call them in Russia. I am not talking, of course, about these pretty little birds but about one of the most powerful U.S. lobbies called the “Chicken Lobby” or “Big Chicken.”   This lobby helps producers sell as much poultry as possible, but as in any trade there are some periodical disputes between the exporters and importers. In normal circumstances, such disputes should be handled through standard commercial negotiation processes. However, “Big Chicken” uses its enormous influence and puts pressure on Congress and the administration to highly politicize this trade and block Russia’s graduation from Jackson-Vanik unless it buys huge poultry volumes.  

As former U.S. Secretary of State Collin Powell was once quoted: “The current point of tension between the United States and Russia is not the arms race but Russian barriers to American poultry imports. I am more worried about chickens than missiles going back and forth."

Another important individual who was and probably still is involved in this issue is none other than VP Joe Biden.  On the one hand, Joe Biden recently called for the forceful “reset” in U.S.-Russia relations. However, before moving to the White House, Biden was a senator from the state of Delaware which happens to be a major poultry producer. Therefore, his geopolitical instincts have been to a large extent concentrated on chicken exports. Since Russia occasionally balked at importing “Bush Legs,” Biden threatened retaliation like opposing the lifting of the Jackson-Vanik amendment or blocking Russia’s entrance to WTO.

Of course, the chicken lobbyists are smart enough to use more sophisticated rhetoric saying that today’s Russia is not a fully democratic state, and therefore it is not ready for graduation from Jackson-Vanik.  Why in this case did the Congress vote for the repeal of this law for China which is certainly not a beacon of democracy?    

The 2010 New Year brings about another chicken war since the announced ban on the import to Russia of poultry meat treated with chlorine came into force on January 1. According to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, “such ban is capable of negatively affecting Washington-Moscow relations.”

Tempers are rising as Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin himself warned the United States that Russia could find other poultry suppliers if U.S. companies fail to meet the country's sanitary requirements.   

Leaving the technical issues aside, I believe Russia now has a good chance to do away with Jackson-Vanik once and for all. Moscow should simply turn the tables and send a message to “Big Chicken” through Tom Vilsak or some other source that if they want to sell poultry to Russia they should lobby the Congress to repeal Jackson-Vanik.  We will have to see who blinks first, but the “Big Chicken” lobbying track record definitely proves that it can easily handle the job.    

Recall how the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a rule in July 2008 that severely limited antibiotic use in hatcheries. The aim, according to the FDA, was to restrict the use of a class of antibiotics due to fears that misuse on farms reduced the antibiotics' effectiveness for humans. The American Medical Association, the World Health Organization, and many public health agencies around the world applauded this announcement and were delighted that their concerns had finally been heard.  To their huge disappointment, after "Big Chicken" stepped in and three weeks before the ban was to go into effect, FDA policymakers suddenly abandoned their own ruling and you know why.  

Comparing this heavy duty FDA lobbying with the repeal of the outlived and now worthless Jackson-Vanik amendment, the latter should be considered a piece of cake.  We are talking here about almost a billion dollar trade deal, and one can be sure that poultry producers will cough up the cash for lobbyists. And everyone will be happy, except the consumers, including Americans, who will have to continue digesting the unhealthy stuff, but this is another story.