US to allow Imports of Chinese Processed Chicken

[AlaskaDenise]

Here we go again ...

http://www.prminds.com/pressrelease.php?id=3781

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>Source: RNCOS > 04 January 2007 (IT Market Research)
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</TD></TR><TR><TD>United States has lifted ban it had imposed on imports of processed chicken from China, said Richard Raymond - the Food Safety Undersecretary with U.S. Agriculture Department. </TD></TR><TR><TD>
Richard Raymond ? Food Safety Undersecretary with U.S. Agriculture Department ? said on 14 December 2006 that he had assured China that U.S. would be moving to grant the request of China about exporting processed poultry to the U.S.

Raymond, who came back after meetings in Beijing revealed in an interview that since China would be required to cook poultry as part of processing, U.S. consumers were at no risk of bird flu.

China has been suffering a lot due to the sudden outbreaks of highly pathogenic & fatal strain of H5NI (Asian bird flu) infecting humans, however it?s never been found in the United States. As per Raymond, Chinese officials had been pressing on him about U.S. progress to alter the restrictions on imports & he assured them that the work was under progress.

As per a Research Analyst?s view at RNCOS, who has recently researched a report on ?Process Food Market - Asia Pacific (2006-2007)?, ?Chicken its consent to lift the restrictions has always been a significant revenue generator for the country. Now as US has given imposed upon China, the country (China) is anticipating to grow its processed food market further.?

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[AlaskaDenise]

Re: US to allow Imports of Chinese Processed Chicken

I could not find specific contact information for the Food Safety section, however, USDA's feedback form is at http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?edeployment_action=changenav&navid=FEEDBACK_FORM

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[Niko]

Re: US to allow Imports of Chinese Processed Chicken

U.S. to allow processed poultry shipments from China

By Libby Quaid, AP Food And Farm Writer | April 20, 2006
WASHINGTON --Poultry processed in China will be allowed to enter the United States despite outbreaks of deadly bird flu in China, the Bush administration said Thursday.
Critics said the imported poultry will put public health at risk. The Agriculture Department said the meat would be fully cooked and perfectly safe.
"It will have been processed," said Richard Raymond, the department's undersecretary for food safety. "Cooking will kill the virus, if there is any virus, in poultry meat."
The U.S. does not accept live poultry from countries where the virulent flu strain is present. That policy has not changed.
The poultry would be raised and slaughtered in the U.S. or other countries from which the U.S. accepts poultry. It would be fully cooked and packaged or canned in China. Imports will be allowed beginning May 24.
Critics say the U.S. cannot guarantee that Chinese processing facilities will keep Chinese poultry from mixing with U.S. poultry.
"It's not clear to me the two will be effectively kept separate," said Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, the top Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., said the imports are dangerous.
"It is an outrage that the U.S. is going to open our borders to imports of poultry from China -- a country that lacks the fundamental safety functions in its processing plants, has questionable export practices, and a country where a deadly animal disease and possible pandemic is running rampant," said DeLauro, top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee's agriculture subcommittee.
The department acted on a request from China, but Raymond said he does not expect very much of the product to be shipped to the U.S. He noted that chicken prices have been low.
"With the price of chicken, I don't know how you could send it across the ocean twice and make money," Raymond said.
He added that poultry is safe as long as it is properly cooked and basic rules for kitchen safety are followed. The department says cooking poultry to 165 degrees will kill viruses or bacteria.
Chinese President Hu Jintao visited President Bush on Thursday at the White House. In advance of his visit, China made several commitments including an agreement to drop a mad cow disease-related ban on imports of U.S. beef. Raymond said the deal is unrelated to poultry imports and has been in the works since 2004.
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http://www.boston.com/news/local/connecticut/articles/2006/04/20/us_to_allow_processed_poultry_shipments_from_china/

 

[Niko]

Re: US to allow Imports of Chinese Processed Chicken

According to this document:
http://www.fas.usda.gov/psdonline/psdReport.aspx
and this document:
http://www.fas.usda.gov/scriptsw/bico/bico.asp?Entry=lout&doc=422
China does not produce enough poultry for their own population. The USA is an exporter of poultry worldwide. Why would the USA need to import from China? How would shipping poultry to China for processing, only to have them ship it back to the USA be profitable? Maybe I just don't understand the import/export business since I can find no justification for importing poultry from China (aside from political reasons) Maybe someone with more knowledge on the subject could enlighten the rest of us.

 

[Shannon Bennett]

Re: US to allow Imports of Chinese Processed Chicken

I don't know about the cost effectiveness of shipping frozen birds to China and then canned chicken back to the States but, I am certain all virus would be dead if it was processed as is normal to prevent botulism.

 

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: US to allow Imports of Chinese Processed Chicken

There was a case of H5N1 infection from canned poultry products imported into a SE Asian country. In past discussions, some felt it might be due to sub-optimal manufacturing standards or contaminated equipment.

It would take considerable inspection by trustworthy personnel to ensure compliance with standards for sanitation, processing safety, ensuring no contaminated Chinese meat is mixed into the product, etc.

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