April 21, 2006

 

US agrees to allow imports of poultry processed in China

 

 

Next month the US will begin allowing China to sell processed poultry to the US, so long as it is not from birds raised or slaughtered in China, where the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu continues to be found.

 

The new US federal rule--unveiled Thursday (Apr 20), the same day President George W. Bush met with Chinese President Hu Jintao--evoked criticism from US lawmakers.

 

The raw poultry that China processes and ships to the US would have to originate from either the US or Canada, the US Department of Agriculture's Undersecretary for Food Safety Richard Raymond said.

 

Raymond said he knows of no US companies preparing to send raw poultry to China for processing.

 

In a prepared statement, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Connecticut, criticised to the USDA announcement.

 

"It is an outrage that the US is going to open our borders to imports of poultry from China--a country that lacks the fundamental safety functions in its processing plants, has questionable export practices, and a country where a deadly animal disease and possible pandemic is running rampant," DeLauro said.

 

She said she was upset that the US would not have inspectors at the Chinese processing plants.

 

Raymond said the US has audited the Chinese plants and must trust their system, just as other countries trust the US to produce safe meat products.

 

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, also released a statement Thursday critical of the USDA.

 

Harkin said that while the USDA will now allow US companies to import poultry processed in China, it "still maintains domestic Chinese poultry is dangerous".

 

"It's not clear to me (that) the two will be effectively kept separate," he said.

 

USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service said in its Thursday announcement that Chinese plants cannot process domestic poultry at the same time they are processing poultry for export to the US for fear of the two mingling.

 

The US agency, "through on-site reviews, will verify that establishments certified by the government of China are meeting all US requirements," USDA said.

 

USDA plans to publish the new federal rule Monday and have it go into effect 30 days later.