August 27, 2007

 

US will send delegation to China to meet on agriculture trade issues
 

 

The US is sending a delegation of government representatives to China to meet with their counterparts there next week over unresolved agricultural trade issues, US Department of Agriculture Undersecretary for Farm and Foreign Agriculture Services Mark Keenum said Friday (Aug 24).

 

Keenum told Dow Jones Newswires he would depart for the talks on Saturday and return Thursday. He said Assistant US Trade Representative for Agricultural Affairs James Murphy will also attend the meetings.

 

The talks will be a precursor to a December ministerial-level meeting of the US-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade, or JCCT, which USDA Secretary Mike Johanns is scheduled to attend. That meeting will also be held in China.

 

Issues to be discussed next week include China's recent banning of several US pork plants because the chemical ractopamine was detected in shipments, Keenum said.

 

China suspended pork shipments from eight US production plants in August because inspectors discovered traces of the chemical that is not yet approved for food there.

 

US hog producers use ractopamine to help produce lean muscle in hogs instead of fat, according to the National Pork Producers Council.

 

Keenum said he would update Chinese officials on USDA's effort to lift US restrictions on importing processed chicken products, as well as enquire about how China is handling viral outbreaks in pigs of what appears to be a form of the highly pathogenic porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome disease, also known as PRRS or blue-ear disease.

 

According to a recent news report out of Beijing, China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine has expressed concerns over the quality of US soybeans imported, but Keenum said USDA has received no official complaints from China.

 

China is the world's largest soybean importer, according to USDA data. The US exported 10.3 million tonnes of soybeans there last year, up from 9.4 million tonnes in 2005.

 

Bob Callanan, communications director for the American Soybean Association, said the group has heard of no complaints from importers about US shipments.

 

"Everything is within trade specs and there's no reason to believe we have a problem at this point," Callanan said.