August 14, 2014

China has banned imports from six US pork processing plants and six cold storage facilities from August 13, in enforcing its ban on ractopamine, the US Department of Agriculture said on Tuesday.

The affected pork packing plants include Tyson Foods' plants in Perry and Storm Lake, Iowa and the company's facility in Logansport, Indiana; Hormel Foods Corp's plant in Fremont, Nebraska; Triumph Foods in St. Joseph, Missouri; and Quality Pork Processors, Inc in Austin, Minnesota.

China currently requires third party verification that US pork shipped to the country is free of the feed additive that promotes lean muscle growth, which is sold to hog farmers under the name Paylean.

In 2013, US pork exports to China totalled 312,138 tonnes, valued at US$645.3 million, according to the Global Trade Atlas. Overall pork exports worldwide last year totaled 7.5 million tonnes valued at US$20.4 billion.