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Pork producers want action on trade barriers
Story Date: 7/27/2012
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Source: Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE, 7/27/12
The National Pork Producers Council outlined policies it sees as barriers to trade with Russia, Taiwan, the European Union and other countries and outlined issues it wants addressed in any trade agreements the United States enters.
Testifying before a House subcommittee, Iowa hog farmer Jim Boyer represented NPPC and outlined the following suggestions to address sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures that are restricting market access for U.S. pork:
Trans-Pacific Partnership: While the U.S. pork industry supports the 11-nation regional trade pact, countries that are part of the agreement must eliminate their SPS barriers. The deal also should include an SPS chapter with a meaningful dispute-settlement provision.
Russia: The country, which soon will join the World Trade Organization, has a number of SPS measures that restrict U.S. pork imports, including a zero-tolerance standard for pathogens on meat, a standard no country can meet. Russia should abide by the WTO’s Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures.
European Union: Although it should be one of the largest export markets for U.S. pork, the EU is one of the smallest because of its SPS barriers. Any U.S.-EU trade agreement must address such non-science-based trade restrictions.
Taiwan: The nation restricts U.S. pork exports from hogs fed ractopamine, a feed additive approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 25 other countries and the U.N.’s food-safety standards-setting body. Taiwan’s entry into the TPP negotiations should hinge on it eliminating that SPS barrier.
For more stories, go to http://www.meatingplace.com/.
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