Agricultural News
China's Doors Finally Re-Opened to US Beef and This Time We're Making Sure They Stay That Way
Wed, 14 Jun 2017 11:07:26 CDT
For the first time in more than a decade, beef products produced in the United States will officially be allowed into China's marketplace through the front door. Kent Bacus, director of international trade and market access for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, told Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays, this trade agreement has been a long-time coming and is very welcomed.
"There's been a lot of us cutting our teeth on trade policy with the Chinese for many years over this beef issue," he said, citing a 2003 BSE incident in the US that caused the Chinese to close their markets to US beef. "For the last several years, we've really been trying to educate the Chinese government and a lot of their representatives on just how safe our product is."
With many internal issues of their own, Bacus says food safety protocols are one of the chief concerns of the Chinese when it comes to vetting their trade partners. As part of the negotiated requirements to allow US beef back into China, only certain cattle will qualify for exportation, which adhere to a strict 30 month of age limit and mandatory enrollment in a "bookend traceability system," that will allow isolated risks to be tracked should they arise. But, China is not the only participant that has negotiated some fail-safes.
"God, forbid we ever have another BSE case - part of this protocol includes language that says that China reconfirms that its market will remain open if there's another confirmed case of BSE in the United States," Bacus said. "That's very important, because, in the past, we were left out of that market for 13 years."
Listen to Bacus and Hays discuss some of the terms of the recently negotiated beef trade agreement between the US and China, on today's Beef Buzz.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
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