China may soon be open once again to U.S. beef. China banned U.S. beef in 2003 after a case of mad cow disease was discovered in Washington State. The move began a trade war between the two countries with China pushing for the U.S. to allow Chinese chicken imports in exchange for re-opening their market to U.S. beef. After a December 20th meeting of the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade it was announced that U.S. beef may once again be allowed in China as part of a trade-off to open the U.S. market to Chinese chicken imports. In August the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved China to process chickens raised in the U.S. or Canada for the U.S. market and audits are underway for the approval of China to sell chicken raised and slaughtered in China to the U.S. The agreement comes amid a reappearance of the avian bird flu in humans in China and travel warnings being issued to travelers to mainland China to take health precautions.
To receive relevant news stories with summaries provided by GAI Research & Insight, subscribe to Global AgDevelopments, our free bi-weekly enhanced eNews service