update:Feb 5, 2007
Broiler exports to the USA from China opposed
Guest Bloggers
China can now export poultry to the USA following a
bilateral agreement. But it cannot. Health concerns are more important than
free trade and block any meat product coming from China. By
Simon Shane
China can now export poultry to the USA following a
bilateral agreement. But it cannot. Health concerns are more important than
free trade and block any meat product coming from China.
The recent bilateral agreement between the USDA Food Safety and Inspection
Service and their counterpart in China, regarding equivalency of inspection
standards has been effectively negated by the action of the US Congress. The
agreement would have allowed US-origin poultry meat to be further-processed in
designated plants in China. The cooked product could then have been re-exported
to the USA. The initiative which was regarded as financially infeasible was
tolerated by the Bush Administration, which supports the principle of free
trade.
It is noted that China imports up to 300,000 metric tonnes of
broiler products annually from the USA, mainly in the form of wing tips, feet
and gizzards. Reciprocal trade has been advanced by China as a prerequisite for
continued imports.
On May 3rd the House of Representatives' Subcommittee on
Agriculture passed a $94 billion Bill for food and agricultural programs which
specifically bans importation of any product from China. Citing concerns
regarding H5N1 avian influenza, Representative Rosa DeLauro, the senior Democrat
on the spending subcommittee was the principal opponent of the amendment. "The
public health risk increases exponentially when a product from China is
undercooked, because the threat of avian flu is so high in that country" she
said in supporting her position. She added "if undercooking can occur at a US
plant, where there are daily inspections, think of how easy it would be for
undercooking or other problems to occur in a Chinese plant, which is inspected
by US inspectors only once per year".
By: Simon
Shane
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