July 15, 2013

Smithfield CEO testifies before US Senate on China's Shuanghui deal

With the aim of reaffirming the benefits of the proposed Shuanghui-Smithfield transaction for US farmers and agriculture, Smithfield's CEO, C Larry Pope, testified before the US Senate on Wednesday (Jul 10).

The recurring theme at the hearing was the issue of the international flow of pork and if the deal with China would displace the US pork export market.

Pope had prepared a seven-page statement for the committee which had one word underlined 'exporting'.

Extracting from Pope's statement he said, "This transaction is about exporting high-quality meat products from the US to China to meet the growing global demand for pork and increase global food safety standards."

Pope also explained that the issue is all about exports (to China) not about imports as one of the Senators asked if Chinese pork export to the US possible."

Witnesses were heard from both sides of the argument on whether or not approval of the Smithfield-Shuanghui deal should be given.

Pope also said the Smithfield had "no objection" to the USDA being included on a list of federal agencies reviewing the proposed acquisition by Shuanghui International.