Source: Susan Kelly, MEATINGPLACE, 7/26/17


A bipartisan group of 37 U.S. senators led by Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) today called on Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue to press for the swift reopening of the Chinese market to U.S. chicken and turkey exports.

China continues to ban U.S. poultry in contradiction of World Health Organization for Animal Health (OIE) standards long after the 2015 detection of a wild duck with Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, the senators wrote in a letter to Perdue.

“With the productivity of U.S. agriculture exceeding domestic demand, the U.S. food and agriculture industry -- and the rural communities which depend on it -- rely heavily on export markets to sustain prices and revenues,” the senators said.

They are encouraged, they said, by the Trump administration’s recent efforts to reopen the Chinese beef trade, and that China has begun an animal health audit of the U.S. poultry industry. 

The National Turkey Federation (NTF), National Chicken Council (NCC) and USA Poultry and Egg Export Council expressed appreciation that U.S. negotiators are focused on next steps to reopen the Chinese market to U.S. chicken and turkey.

“It is critical that we continue to develop an open trading relationship with the Chinese. The Senate’s strong statement on behalf of American poultry products makes clear balance and fairness must exist for a two-way open market with China,” the NTF and NCC said in a joint statement.

At its peak, the value of poultry exports from the U.S. to China was $71 million for turkey and $722 million for chicken, the U.S. poultry groups noted. The United States is the largest poultry producer in the world and the second biggest poultry meat exporter, with nearly 18 percent of its product shipped to foreign markets, they said.

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