Meat + Poultry - August 2009 - 18

China puts the brakes on
U.S. chicken imports
Beijing put the brakes on millions of dollars worth of U.S.
chicken earlier in July, about half of which is chicken feet,
in an escalating trade war between the two nations.
China's move came as Congress began deliberating the
2010 federal budget for agriculture, which could extend a U.S.
ban on imports of Chinese chicken products due to foodsafety concerns. The Chinese are angry about the U.S. ban,
and as a result Beijing has stopped U.S. chicken imports -
although China claims imports are not being blocked, according to U.S. exporters.
In 2008, China bought 421,000 tonnes, or $280 million
worth, of chicken paws, which are popular in soups, stews
and as snack items, according to the USA Poultry and Egg
Export Council. In total, China bought 754,000 tonnes of
U.S. chicken, worth $676 million, in 2008.
Unless the ban is eliminated, most U.S. chicken paws
will have to be processed into feed or other non-food uses.
One U.S. analyst recently said earnings for chicken producers would be impacted if the ban lasted past September.
Chinese importers told U.S. chicken companies early
in July that Beijing was not issuing import permits for U.S.
chicken, effectively blocking the poultry for the rest of 2009.
"The situation is murky, to put it mildly," says Richard
Lobb, spokesman for the National Chicken Council. "We do
not have a good handle on the actual impact on trade. The
Chinese insist their policy has not changed. At the same
time, China has lodged a complaint at the WTO over the
amendment that prevents USDA from finalizing its consideration of China's petition to export fully-cooked chicken
products to the U.S. We hope China and the U.S. can work
things out and return to a normal trade situation before any
real damage is done."
18

MEAT&POULTRY

August 2009

www.MEATPOULTRY.com

Photo courtesy of USMEF

INTERNATIONAL

U.S. trade chief to Russia:
Lift pork and poultry bans
Moscow should lift its restrictions on U.S. poultry and
pork imports to encourage the U.S. Congress to repeal
the Jackson-Vanik amendment, a key irritant in U.S.Russian relations, according to a statement from U.S.
Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke this past month.
Locke said U.S. lawmakers would likely regard action
on meat imports as a first step toward repealing the
1974 law that limited trade with Communist nations,
which restricted the emigration of Soviet Jews.
Russia was told by President Barack Obama's administration it would make repealing the law a priority, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said. The
law remains on the books due to lingering post-Cold
War disputes on human rights, trade and other issues.
In 2008, Russia restricted poultry imports and this
spring it banned pork imports from some U.S. states
after the outbreak of swine flu, although the World
Health Organization said meat products cannot transmit the illness. Earlier this year Russia raised tariffs
on meat imports.
Russia and the U.S. have set up a working group
on trade, the fi rst under a new commission established in mid-July by Obama and Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev to expand commercial, scientific
and cultural ties, Locke said.
"The Russian government is very eager to get
working on this working group," Locke added. He
said the level of trade between the two economies
is "a fraction of what it could be."

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Meat + Poultry - August 2009

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