(Adds details, background)
PARIS, May 28 (Reuters) - Talks between U.S. and Russian officials on health-related bans Moscow has put on some imports of U.S. meat, are continuing and heading in the right direction, the chief of the regional U.S. meat exporters' group said.
"We are optimistic that it could come to a positive, if not conclusion, at least development," John Brook, regional director of the U.S. Meat Export Federation for Europe, Russia and the Middle East told Reuters on Thursday.
He declined to give details of what a deal could look like, adding that the negotiations, taking place on the sidelines of the World animal health organisation OIE's general assembly in Paris, could last until late Thursday afternoon.
The closed-door meeting gathered U.S. and Russian veterinary and food safety officials with meat industry representatives and was aimed at convincing Moscow to lift or curb bans on U.S. meat.
Like several other countries Russia has halted all meat imports from several U.S. states on concerns related to the H1N1 flu virus, commonly known as swine flu, even though world health officials have stressed the virus is not spread by pork.
As well as the recent round of bans, Moscow has in recent years limited meat imports from several U.S. plants on the basis they do not conform to Russian safety standards.
The U.S. Trade Representative insisted on Wednesday that Russia lift its restrictions on imports of U.S. meat immediately, saying they are not justified by scientific evidence. [ID:nN27208371]
Russia is the largest export market for the $55 billion U.S. poultry industry and a major importer of pork and beef.
However, Sergei Dankvert, head of Russia's farm produce watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor, told Reuters on Tuesday that it would not yield to U.S. pressure to lift bans, which he said were based on real safety concerns [ID:nLQ374264].
Sergei Dankvert also said the bans were not linked to Russia's plans to boost domestic meat production.
Moscow said earlier this month it wanted to be self-sufficient in poultry meat and pork in two years. [ID:nL3165254]. (Editing by Anthony Barker)