China Lifts Import Ban on U.S. Beef, But More Steps are Necessary

Last week China announced that it had lifted the ban against the import of U.S. beef. That is an important first step says US Meat Export Federation Senior Vice President for Trade Access Thad Lively.

Lively: "Well it was a announced by the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and the quarantine service there is that the ban that went into effect December 2003 is now been conditionally lifted. Before we can ship to China, the first step is lifting the ban and the second step is negotiating the import conditions. China has taken that first step. So if we are understanding this correctly, that is a obviously an important step in the direction in restarting exports to China but we have a long way to go."

Lively says that a big hurdle for lifting the ban was assuring China the U.S. has an effective means of tracing individual animals back to their birth location. He says the industry has been working together to put a system into place

Lively: "The industry came together and agreed that it would be possible to put together a system that would allow us to meet China's requirements. There has been a huge commitment on the part of the industry and this current administration to find solutions to the problems that have kept us out of the Chinese market. So it has been a good collaboration between the industry and USDA and I"m sure that will continue as we move into the next phase of the process."