March 20, 2015
US beefs make it to China despite restrictions
China has suspended US beef imports into the country but the measures did not prevent some deliveries from entering its territories via Hong Kong, according to Deputy US Trade Representative, Robert Holleyman.
American beef is currently not allowed into the Chinese market due to previous cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, also known as mad cow disease.
While it remains unclear the volume that has bypass restrictions so far, officials claimed that deliveries from the US overwhelmed the overall consumption of beef in Hong Kong.
In 2014, more than 154,500 tonnes of US beef products reached the SAR, a figure that is close to 19% more than 2013, according to a USDA data.
In the same year, the volume of Brazilian and Indian beef smuggled into China via Hong Kong and Vietnam recorded at hundreds of thousand tonnes, based on estimates from industry sources.