"Because of the complexity and just the logistics of negotiation, it often takes what appears to be a long time to come to agreements in these types of negotiations. The new certificate was agreed to in late December and is now in use," said Hakim Fobia, a spokesman for the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service.

 

"China has been a good trading partner for dairy in recent years," said Fobia, adding that the new certification regime should help the volume and value of US exports to increase.

 

"Although there never was a market closure, some Chinese buyers were hesitant to source from US suppliers while the risk of market closure during negotiations was possible," he said.

 

Uncertainty that buyers in China would not be able to extend current deals at favourable prices was "the biggest impact" of the certification issue, said Alan Levitt, a spokesman for the US Dairy Export Council, which represents milk producers and dairy cooperatives. One example is cheese, of which the food-service industry requires a consistent supply from a reliable seller, Levitt said.

 

"As China's food-service industry grows, there is certainly a greater demand for cheese, but I think some of the buyers were a little bit leery of buying from the US until we had this thing worked out," he said.

 

According to the USDA, US$430 million worth of dairy products were exported to China in 2012. The top goods were lactose (US$118 million), whey protein concentrate (US$108 million), dry whey (US$66 million), skim-milk powder (US$42 million) and cheese (US$37 million).

 

Levitt said US exports increased even during the certification talks because Chinese demand is strong and its domestic supplies cannot keep up with consumption. Also, many buyers are seeking to diversify their supplies so they are not dependent on any one region of the world if shortages arise.

 

"I think the US dairy industry recognises that if we want to continue growing as an industry, the market has to be overseas, and China, of course, is the big one," Levitt said.

 

The volume of US dairy exports to China has been rising steadily. The value of those exports fell in 2009 due to weak prices but has generally increased, said Ed Jesse, emeritus professor of agricultural and applied economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

 

China was the No. three market for US dairy exports by value in 2012 and the second-biggest as measured by volume - 255,000 tonnes, nearly 100,000 tonnes more than Canada and only 150,000 less than Mexico.