January 24, 2013

Regulators from China and the US have approved a dairy certificate that will ensure the flow of US dairy goods into the largest dairy importer in the world.

The issue dates back to early 2010 when China revised its dairy certificate as part of sweeping efforts to upgrade domestic food safety.

The process was ongoing and USDEC was involved from the start. Staff visited one-on-one with Chinese food safety authorities to understand the assurances they were seeking and collaborated closely with US regulators to develop and revise sample certificate language.

At the same time, although there never was a market closure, the unresolved certificate issue and threat of closure loomed over US-China dairy trade. That perceived risk made some buyers hesitate, opting to source some or all of their product from US competitors.

USDEC estimates the uncertainty of the certificate situation depressed US dairy ingredient sales by 5%-10% and cheese sales by as much as 50%. The impact was considerably greater in the case of cheese given the foodservice industry's need for consistent supply and more limited interchangeability of cheeses.