September 30, 2010
China welcomes WTO ruling on US poultry import ban
China has welcomed the final ruling by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) expert panel that the US ban on imports of Chinese poultry is inconsistent with WTO rules.
Yao Jian, spokesman of China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC), said Chinese poultry products were safe and called for the US to conduct fair assessments and tests on the meat.
China hoped the US would take further steps to eliminate policies that discriminated against Chinese poultry products and ensure fair play, Yao said.
China had always maintained that WTO members should conscientiously abide by WTO rules and fight trade protectionism, he said.
The WTO said on Wednesday (Sep 30) that US restrictions on the imports of Chinese chicken, turkey and duck breaks global commerce rules. The US has banned poultry imports from China since 2007.
In July 2009, the WTO, at China's request, set up an expert panel to investigate whether the US ban was in line with WTO rules.
