February 23, 2012

 

US-China agricultural deal excludes beef, biotechnology

 

 

The US-China agricultural pact that is meant to guide the two countries' bilateral cooperation on agriculture issues for the next five years does not include specific language that would resolve unsettled beef and biotechnology disputes.

 

The eight-page agreement was signed last week by US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Chinese Agriculture Minister Han Changfu.

 

Instead, the document paints broad guidelines for working toward a set of general goals that include accelerating agricultural investment and trade, deepening agricultural technological exchange and cooperation, and more closely coordinating on international agricultural affairs.

 

The lack of specifics in the February 16 agreement - inked in Des Moines, Iowa on the sidelines of the first US-China agriculture symposium - came as a disappointment to some in the agricultural industry. In a conference call with reporters days earlier, Vilsack had hinted that he would broach the issues of beef market access and asynchronous approvals of biotech when he met with Han, along with China's long-standing demands that the US open to its processed poultry exports (Inside US-China Trade, February 15).

 

But one source said the text of the agreement appears to signal a broader shift in US strategy with China on agricultural issues, toward trying to convince Beijing that making reforms is in its own best interest.

 

Still, the language of the agreement is very broad. Under the heading of "Priority Areas," it lists "Food Security" and makes a passing reference to relying on "advancement of science and technology" in saying that both China and the US should strive to improve overall agricultural productivity and facilitate a "transparent trade environment."

 

Under "Biotechnology," the agreement reads, "Mutually determined cooperation should be enhanced in the application of agricultural biotechnology for breeding new varieties, research on key genes with economic traits, safe and efficient transgenic technology, information-sharing related to agricultural biotechnology and crop genes."

 

Other priority areas include food safety and animal and plant health; sustainable agriculture; animal and plant genetic resources; investment and cooperation in emerging technologies; prevention and control of plant and animal diseases; and agricultural market and trade.

 

The disputes over beef and biotech are long-standing. China has banned beef imports from the US since it reported a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or "mad cow" disease, in 2003. And the Office of the US Trade Representative has noted for years the problems caused by China's policy towards biotechnology, under which its regulators will not even begin to consider an application for a new crop until it has already been approved elsewhere.

 

The potential for this stance to lead to trade disruptions was highlighted in a legal dispute last year that pitted biotechnology companies against grains shipping firms. In that case, grains shippers stopped accepting a certain type of biotech corn that many farmers had already planted because China had not approved it, and segregating it would have been too costly (Inside US-China Trade, October 19).

 

The deal, called the China-US Plan of Strategic Cooperation in Agriculture 2012-2017, does offer some concrete results. For example, it says that the participants will establish a Joint Working Group on Agricultural Policy under the currently existing Joint Committee on Cooperation in Agriculture (JCCA).

 

It also lists eight "key projects" for China-US cooperation in agriculture. These include a joint food security project in Timor-Leste, a development project of multi-national breeders, and a demonstration project of sustainable agricultural development, according to an annex to the agreement. It does not spell out what these projects hope to achieve.