November 13, 2013

US disallows import of poultry slaughtered in China

As the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) declared that China's poultry-slaughter system is not equivalent, the US has disallowed the import of poultry slaughtered in China.

The statement comes after a press release from Senator Chuck Schumer's office questioned the equivalency of China's poultry -slaughter system.

China requested FSIS to evaluate its poultry-slaughter system in December 2010, and FSIS was legally obligated to move forward with an audit. FSIS has not released the results of this audit as it has not been finalised. In case the audit reveals food-safety issues with China's poultry-slaughter system, then China will be required to take corrective actions and then be audited again in order for the process to continue.