On January 16th 2020 the Office of the United States Trade Representative issued a summary of provisions relating to chicken exports to China incorporated into the Phase-1 Agreem
ent signed on January 15 th in Washington DC. The statement is reproduced below with deletion of provisions relating to hogs and cattle.
The Phase One economic and trade agreement signed by the United States and China on January 15, 2020, will provide U.S. exporters of beef, pork, and poultry, as well as live breeding cattle with expanded access to China's rapidly growing market.
Market Overview: As incomes rise in China, demand for protein in diets increases. Chinese demand for imported beef, pork, and poultry is growing at a rapid rate, made more acute due to domestic pork supply constraints in China as a result of the ongoing outbreak of African swine fever.
China banned all U.S. poultry in 2015 and has maintained longstanding market access restrictions. The Phase One agreement addresses this issue and should give U.S. companies streamlined access to China's market while providing Chinese consumers with a wider variety of poultry products to choose from in the future. While Chinese livestock producers already import large volumes of livestock genetics from the United States, the Phase One agreement will provide an opportunity in the future for U.S. exports of high quality genetic material
On November 14, 2019, China reopened its market to U.S. poultry meat, partially eliminating the ban it had imposed in late 2014. On November 22, 2019, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) updated the online export library listing requirements for U.S. exporters to ship U.S. poultry meat to China. U.S. establishments can only export poultry to China that is slaughtered and further processed after the establishment has been added to the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China (GACC) website. On November 22, 2019, GACC completed updating an initial online list of 349 U.S. establishments eligible to export to China. Upon GACC publishing U.S. establishments, Chinese importers are now able to obtain import licenses to start placing orders.
Key Achievements in establishing the Phase-One Agreement:
Poultry
China has agreed to implement the following actions with respect to poultry:
• Finalize a protocol for the regionalization of poultry diseases, thereby ensuring that future trade disruptions will be minimized and solely based on internationally-accepted practices;
• Fully lift the ban on other poultry commodities, including live birds; and
• Abide by OIE standards for international trade of poultry products.
• Address the backlog of facilities awaiting approval and accelerate the process for future applicants by publishing within 20 business days of receipt the updated list of USDA-approved facilities;
• Permit, consistent with USDA directives, the use of replacement certificates;
• Begin utilizing USDA's Public Health Information System to facilitate the use of electronic transmission of export health certificates, greatly reducing the workload for exporters and regulators;
and
Audits and Inspections :
China has agreed to not require any routine audits or inspections of U.S. meat and poultry facilities as part of any facility registration process. However, in accordance with international standards, China may perform risk-based audits in coordination with USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). China may also conduct inspections of a risk-based selection of shipments of U.S. meat and poultry at the port of entry. China may refuse importation of a shipment of imported U.S. poultry products after conducting a scientific inspection and determining it is in violation of applicable food safety import requirements. China will notify the United States if it notices a significant, sustained, or recurring pattern of non-conformity by a particular facility and if it intends to restrict imports from that facility. The United States and China will work together to resolve any such issues should they be detected.