Source:  Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 5/17/10

China gave official notice on May 13 that it is accepting shipments of U.S. pork produced on or after May 1, according to USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, but USDA is still negotiating in an effort to roll back that eligibility date.

In March, the United States and China agreed to reopen the Chinese market to U.S. pork imports after closing its borders in late April 2009 in the wake of the H1N1 influenza outbreak, which the media misnamed "swine" flu.

"USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service is working with Chinese officials to adjust the product eligibility date to March 24, 2010 — the date specified in the original agreement to reopen China's market to U.S. pork and pork products," an FSIS spokesman told Meatingplace.

Shipments must be accompanied by an H1N1 addendum certificate, available on the FSIS Export Library.

"This is tremendous news for U.S. pork producers," said National Pork Producers Council President Sam Carney in news release. "China is one of our biggest markets, so being able to ship pork there is extremely important to the U.S. pork industry.

NPPC said it is continuing to urge the Obama administration to press China to address a number of other trade-related issues that limit U.S. pork imports. Among those issues are China's ban on U.S. pork produced with ractopamine, subsidies China provides its domestic pork producers and a value-added tax it imposes on imports.

The U.S. pork industry exported nearly 400,000 metric tons of pork worth nearly $690 million to China and Hong Kong in 2008, making it the No. 3 destination for U.S. pork. Last year, U.S. pork exports to China and Hong Kong were down by 38 percent, falling to just under $427 million, according to NPPC.

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