April 22, 2004

China Still Not Ready To Ease Poultry Ban On US

China is still not ready to ease the ban on U.S. poultry that it implemented in reaction to outbreaks of avian influenza here, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said Wednesday.

China has requested further "scientific exchanges" with the U.S. before it begins to allow in any U.S. poultry, Veneman told reporters in a briefing during talks held by the U.S. and China's Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade.

Convincing China and Hong Kong to either lift completely or at least regionalize their poultry bans on the U.S. was a key goal of USDA Undersecretary J.B. Penn when he visited those countries last week.

Currently China and Hong Kong maintain nationwide bans rather than prohibiting imports from only areas that have reported outbreaks of avian influenza.

China, together with Hong Kong, imported about $190 million of U.S. poultry in 2003, according to USDA data collected by the U.S. Poultry and Egg Export Council.