Keep chicken from China out of school meals, House members say

Fourteen members of the U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter urging their colleagues in Congress to ensure chicken processed in China will not be included in the U.S. school lunch program or other national nutrition programs. Members of both political parties signed the letter, which was addressed to leaders of the House and Senate appropriations committees and subcommittees on agriculture.
The letter specifically addresses a decision made earlier in 2013, where the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) made a move to allow China to process chicken produced in the United States, Canada or Chile and be able to ship the processed products back to the United States. The House members stated their concerns of food safety with poultry processed in China, including outbreaks of H7N9 avian influenza that were fatal to more than 40 people. The Representatives urged that the 2014 agriculture appropriations bill contain language that prevents poultry processed in China to be included in the national school lunch program, the school breakfast program, the child and adult care food program and the summer food service program.
"Children are our most vulnerable population with respect to foodborne illnesses and sensitivity to potentially dangerous chemicals," the letter stated. "Given China's demonstrably poor food safety record, we believe it is unacceptable to take unnecessary risks with the health of American school children."
Representatives signing the letter were Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn.; Chellie Pingree, D-Maine; Louise Slaughter, D-NY;  Carol Shea-Porter, D-NH; Aclee Hastings, D-Fla; Charles Rangel, D-NY; Mark Pocan, D-Wis.; Peter DeFazio, D-Ore.; Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio; John Dingell, D-Mich.; Janice Schakowsky, D-Ill.; Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb.; Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif.; and Tony Cardenas, D-Calif.

Brazil poultry companies provide majority of China’s 2011 poultry imports

Brazilian companies accounted for 74 percent of China’s poultry imports in 2011, with that percentage expected to grow, the secretary of International Relations from the Brazilian Ministry for Agriculture, Farming and Supply stated.
According to the ministry’s press office, the secretary said that 2012 figures were expected to show that Brazilian companies had increased their market share for that product, although those numbers have not yet been released.
Secretary Célio Porto stated that poultry trade with China was interesting because it allowed producers to sell parts of the birds that were not often eaten in Brazil, such as wings and feet, while in Brazil the “best cuts are the breast, thigh and drumstick.”
In March 2012 there were 24 refrigeration units authorized to export frozen poultry to China, and that figure has since increased to 29 following the approval of five new units, one in Sao Paulo, one in Mato Grosso do Sul and three in Santa Catarina, Macauhub reported.

Minnesota poultry producers can export again to China

Minnesota poultry producers now can export poultry again to China. China placed a ban on Minnesota poultry imports in 2011 after an outbreak of avian flu in the state.

Prior to the November 2011 ban, China was Minnesota's second-largest international market for poultry, including both chicken and turkey. The executive director of the Minnesota Turkey Growers Association, Steve Olson, said producers will hopefully regain their market share.
The H7 avian influenza virus was found in 2011 in two turkey flocks in Wright County, Minn.

China imposes anti-subsidy levy on US chicken

China imposed an anti-subsidy ranging from 4% to 30.3% on chicken meat products imported from USA, as of August 30, 2010, according to the recent announcement made by Ministry of Commerce of China. It exceeds the previous levy range of 3.8% to 31.4% set preliminarily last April.
According to Ministry of Commerce of China, Tyson and Pilgrim’s, two US poultry processing giants, must pay duties of 5.1% and 12.5%, respectively, on their chicken products imported into China. Dozens of other US poultry companies will have to deal with levies that can vary up to 30.3%, added the Chinese organ. The new measure against the US poultry products, along with the recently imposed anti-dumping levy, will be valid for the next five years.

China to restrict chicken imports from US

China may launch trade remedy measures against imported chicken from the United States, as China’s poultry industry has complained about the unfairly priced competition from U.S. exporters, said people familiar with the matter.
“We did propose import restriction of U.S. chicken to the country’s Ministry of Commerce,” Ma Chuang, vice-secretary general at Beijing-based China Animal Agriculture Association (CAAA), told Poultry International.
Although Mr. Ma declined to disclose more details, he says that the government takes the complaints seriously and is investigating this case now.
“We are not against Sino-US chicken trade. But we doubt that the U.S. is dumping chicken into the Chinese market,” said Mr. Ma.
“The price of imported chicken is normally 5-10% lower than that of Chinese chicken. So it is hard for local producers to compete with U.S. importers, especially in the situation that customers are sensitive to food prices during the global recession,” he explained.
In the first half year of 2009, China’s chicken output accounted for only 80% of its total capacity, due to weak domestic demand. To make the matter worse, an increasing number of cheap imported chickens were sold in China, and 70-80% of them are from the U.S., according to Mr. Ma.
The data from USDA shows the U.S. is the largest broiler meat exporter to China with more than 119 million tons of annual export volume last year, and this number is expected to reach 137 million tons by October 2009.

China amends import, export laws

China has amended its administrative measures of inspection and quarantine for its imports as well as exports of feed and feed additives, the country's General Administration of Quality Supervision Inspection and Quarantine said, according to a news report.
The amended measures, which came into force on September 1, are aimed at feed safety as well as traceability.
The rules require the government to tighten supervision over production system assessment, market access, requirement, registration, port monitoring, traceability and product recall for imported products.
Products meant for export will be examined for registration, producer inspection, official monitoring, administration and product traceability.

US meat companies condemn Chinese poultry ban

Companies within the U.S. meat sector recently asked Congress to remove a ban on Chinese poultry imports, according to a news report.
A coalition of meat companies, such as Tyson Foods, Cargill, Sanderson Farms, Pilgrim's Pride and Hormel Foods, and trade groups testified that U.S. law allows all the other 152 countries belonging to the World Trade Organization to apply to export meat to the U.S., and questioned the fairness of this to China.
China opened a WTO complaint regarding the ban, and earlier responded by halting the issuing of import permits for the U.S., worth nearly $700 million per year.
The ban initially was put into place because of safety and health risk concerns.

Congress urged to lift Chinese poultry embargo

A coalition of meat companies and trade groups has requested that the U.S. Congress lift the ban on Chinese poultry imports, according to a Reuters report. The colaition said that the move to single out the country was unfair and added that China could retaliate by stopping U.S. poultry imports. China is the largest importer of U.S. poultry.
The coalition includes Tyson Foods, JBS SA, Cargill Inc., Seaboard Corp., Sanderson Farms Inc., Pilgrim's Pride Corp., Smithfield Foods Inc., Hormel Foods Corp. and seed company Monsanto Co., and a several trade associations, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. China had filed a complaint with the WTO and reportedly stopped renewing import permits of U.S. poultry exporters.

China calls on WTO to end US poultry dispute

China appealed to the World Trade Organization on July 20 to rule on its complaint against the U.S. legislation that bans the import of Chinese poultry, according to an Agence France-Presse report.
China and the U.S. stopped imports of each other's poultry in 2004 over fears of the spread of bird flu. Imports of some U.S. poultry products to China have resumed since then but Chinese officials have complained that the U.S. continues to veto imports of Chinese poultry.
Xinhua news agency reported that China imported 580,000 metric tons of U.S. chicken products last year, accounting for 73.4% of all such imports.