U.S. MAY IMPORT CHICKEN FROM CHINA

UNITED STATES/CHINA: USDA may clear processing plants in China to export poultry to the United States.

USDA wants to allow China to export fully cooked chicken to the United States, despite objections from critics who fear the move will increase the risk of the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza infecting U.S. poultry flocks and people.

China is experiencing an epidemic of avian influenza. The disease has sickened or killed thousands of wild and domestic birds. It has also infected 10 people, killing six.

Countries can export meat and poultry to the United States. However, importation is permitted on a plant-by-plant basis. Before USDA certifies a processing plant to ship meat to the United States, it must pass a stringent USDA inspection and must adhere to USDA food-safety procedures. Under the USDA proposal, live birds from China would be banned. USDA made the proposal at China’s request.

Still, U.S. agriculture officials outside USDA are not convinced that USDA’s safety net is sufficiently strong. “We know that USDA’s foreign food inspections have had problems in the past, and with so many unanswered questions, it is not wise to allow processed poultry imports from China at this time,” Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said. Harkin is the senior Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee.

“I am concerned the administration is neglecting the substantial public health and economic risks to the United States, which USDA itself acknowledges but fails to address,” he explained.