Febrary 2, 2006

US may import processed poultry from China

The USDA may allow processing plants in China to export fully-cooked chicken to the US, disregarding objections from critics who fear it will expose US poultry flocks and people to the bird flu.

Hit by the bird flu, China has seen thousands of its wild and domestic birds killed by the disease. Some 10 people have been infected and six have died.

Exports of meat and poultry to the US are permitted on a plant-by-plant basis. Processing plants need to pass a stringent USDA inspection and must adhere to USDA food-safety procedures before they can be certified by USDA. The USDA proposal stipulated that live poultry from China would be banned.

However, some US agricultural officials outside of USDA are against the move. Senior Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee Tom Harkin said USDA's foreign food inspections have faced problems in the past. He added that it is not wise to allow processed poultry imports from China at this time.