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China

Bilateral Dialogue To Begin On Meat And Food Safety Issues

China and the United States are scheduled to hold several meetings within the next 10 days in efforts to help defuse escalated tensions over the safety of bilateral food trade. USMEF understands USDA and Chinese quarantine officials will hold a teleconference early next week to begin a dialogue on the recent spate of U.S. meat and poultry establishment de-listings and warnings following residue and pathogen detections in imported pork and poultry.

These talks will be followed by face-to-face meetings in late August and early September, according to USDA sources. In addition, China has announced it intends to host a delegation from the FDA in late July to discuss food safety. Talks most likely will focus on FDA restrictions put in place June 28 on Chinese seafood imports, which now require third parties to independently certify the safety of Chinese farm-raised aquatic products before importation.

USMEF believes the Chinese are seeking FDA acceptance of an export mark of quality inspection issued by China's quarantine authorities as certification of a product's safety. China exported more than US $ 1.9 billion in farm-raised seafood to the United States last year.

In other food safety news, the Philippines banned imports of ubiquitous White Rabbit candies for detections of formaldehyde, although the Chinese claim independent inspections by international survey group SGS found no traces of the compound. Nevertheless, the manufacturer of White Rabbit has voluntarily ceased exports of the product to the United States. China also revealed the international media story about cardboard being incorporated into steamed pork buns in Beijing had been fabricated by a rogue journalist. China's food safety woes continued as a Chinese scientist stated that his research concluded that 80 percent of chickens that die prematurely on farms enter the Chinese food chain.

Chinese Pork Prices And Supply Update

USMEF continues to follow pork prices in China, which are still floating at high levels. The wholesale national price of pork in China was almost 75 percent above the level of June last year, and prices surged 30 percent over the two month period from May to July.

USMEF has been unable to receive confirmation from Chinese government sources about a rumored plan for the state to subsidize the purchase of up to 200,000 tons of pork imports to re-stock its strategic reserve, and alleviate supply shortages to processors and areas afflicted by local price spikes. However, rumors are circulating of large purchases by Chinese private companies of pork muscle cuts from the United States and Canada. Traditional pork sales to China have consisted mostly of variety meat and by-products. 

"All macroeconomic news and livestock developments point to increased competitiveness for U.S. red meat, but it’s important we solve our access issues quickly to ameliorate supply risk" said Joel Haggard, USMEF senior vice president of the Asia Pacific region.

High pork prices are one symptom and component of torrid Chinese economic growth. The government released second quarter economic statistics Thursday, including a GDP increase of 11.9 percent in the second quarter alone. That is above state targets, and China's leadership remains concerned about inflation, which reached 4.4 percent in the second quarter, significantly above the target of 3 percent. Catering industry receipts, a component of total retail sales, surged 18 percent. The Chinese currency also hit historical highs against the U.S. dollar.

China

Bilateral Dialogue To Begin On Meat And Food Safety Issues

China and the United States are scheduled to hold several meetings within the next 10 days in efforts to help defuse escalated tensions over the safety of bilateral food trade. USMEF understands USDA and Chinese quarantine officials will hold a teleconference early next week to begin a dialogue on the recent spate of U.S. meat and poultry establishment de-listings and warnings following residue and pathogen detections in imported pork and poultry.

These talks will be followed by face-to-face meetings in late August and early September, according to USDA sources. In addition, China has announced it intends to host a delegation from the FDA in late July to discuss food safety. Talks most likely will focus on FDA restrictions put in place June 28 on Chinese seafood imports, which now require third parties to independently certify the safety of Chinese farm-raised aquatic products before importation.

USMEF believes the Chinese are seeking FDA acceptance of an export mark of quality inspection issued by China's quarantine authorities as certification of a product's safety. China exported more than US $ 1.9 billion in farm-raised seafood to the United States last year.

In other food safety news, the Philippines banned imports of ubiquitous White Rabbit candies for detections of formaldehyde, although the Chinese claim independent inspections by international survey group SGS found no traces of the compound. Nevertheless, the manufacturer of White Rabbit has voluntarily ceased exports of the product to the United States. China also revealed the international media story about cardboard being incorporated into steamed pork buns in Beijing had been fabricated by a rogue journalist. China's food safety woes continued as a Chinese scientist stated that his research concluded that 80 percent of chickens that die prematurely on farms enter the Chinese food chain.

Chinese Pork Prices And Supply Update

USMEF continues to follow pork prices in China, which are still floating at high levels. The wholesale national price of pork in China was almost 75 percent above the level of June last year, and prices surged 30 percent over the two month period from May to July.

USMEF has been unable to receive confirmation from Chinese government sources about a rumored plan for the state to subsidize the purchase of up to 200,000 tons of pork imports to re-stock its strategic reserve, and alleviate supply shortages to processors and areas afflicted by local price spikes. However, rumors are circulating of large purchases by Chinese private companies of pork muscle cuts from the United States and Canada. Traditional pork sales to China have consisted mostly of variety meat and by-products. 

"All macroeconomic news and livestock developments point to increased competitiveness for U.S. red meat, but it’s important we solve our access issues quickly to ameliorate supply risk" said Joel Haggard, USMEF senior vice president of the Asia Pacific region.

High pork prices are one symptom and component of torrid Chinese economic growth. The government released second quarter economic statistics Thursday, including a GDP increase of 11.9 percent in the second quarter alone. That is above state targets, and China's leadership remains concerned about inflation, which reached 4.4 percent in the second quarter, significantly above the target of 3 percent. Catering industry receipts, a component of total retail sales, surged 18 percent. The Chinese currency also hit historical highs against the U.S. dollar.