Taiwan | USMEF Collecting List Of U.S. Pork Exporters That Want To Meet Ract...

Taiwan

USMEF Collecting List Of U.S. Pork Exporters That Want To Meet Ractopamine Requirements

The Taiwan government has indicated to U.S. officials that the United States must meet their requirements for the presence of ractopamine hydrochloride for all product exported from the United States.

Taiwan has notified the WTO that they plan to implement a tolerance level for ractopamine, however, there is not a date set for this implementation and thus no timeline for completion. Currently, the United States has four violations for this compound in shipments classified as HS 0203 and if there is a fifth violation in this category, prior to providing a list of companies that agree to ship ractopamine-free product, it would result in a complete ban of U.S. pork in the 0203 classification.

To avoid a government export verification program, USMEF has been asked to create a list of exporters that want to participate in the Taiwan market operating with a zero tolerance for ractopamine hydrochloride. By placing your company and establishment number(s) on this list, your company commits to sending U.S. pork products in the HS 0203 category that meet Taiwan requirements related to ractopamine hydrochloride (a zero tolerance for residues) and avoid pre-shipment testing for ractopamine. Once the initial list is submitted to Taiwan, the United States will then return to a “zero strike” status for 0203 classification. 

Below is a breakdown of what the United States has agreed to with Taiwan along with related points, which still need clarification. USMEF asks that you review this program and submit the following by e-mail to USMEF Assistant Director, Export Services Kevin Smith at ksmith@usmef.org. Taiwan has indicated this list can be expanded or reduced at any time in the future.

Company name

Establishment numbers of all facilities to be included on the list (this can include cold storages, processors, etc)

Company/establishment addresses to be included on the list

Program for 0203 product
If the establishment is on the list:

• Products exported to Taiwan in the HS 0203 category will be subjected to testing for ractopamine at a rate of 20 percent of shipments.
• If a violation is detected, 100 percent of shipments from the offending facility/company will be subjected to testing for ractopamine. If five consecutive shipments clear without a violation at the 100 percent level, the establishment/company will return to the 20 percent testing level.
• Product exported will NOT have to have any pre-shipment test for ractopamine conducted prior to shipment.

If the establishment is not on the list:

• Products to be exported to Taiwan in the HS 0203 category must be tested for ractopamine, with a negative result, prior to shipment to Taiwan. Taiwan authorities will not present the product for customs clearance without documentation certifying this test occurred. All shipments will be subjected to testing for ractopamine. If a violation is found, the establishment/company will be delisted.

Program for all other product codes except 0203
Products exported to Taiwan in categories different then the 0203 category (0206, for example) will continue to be subject to a testing level of 5 percent of shipments.

• If a violation is found in one of these categories, the shipment will be rejected and the exporter will be subjected to 20 percent testing of shipments in that category to be tested for ractopamine. If a second violation is found from the same exporter, the rate will increase to 100 percent.

Overall
With this program, the United States, as a country, as five strikes per HS classification regardless if the strike is found in product from companies that participate in the list or not. This means any violations detected result in a strike in that category and five strikes in a category will result in a total ban of product in that category. 

USMEF has requested any sanctions applied in the event of a violation be applied to the “Exporter of Record”. Taiwan has not rejected this idea; however, we have not received a clear and concise answer as to how this will be applied. It was first stated that sanctions would applied to the exporter by the FSIS establishment number, however, Taiwan authorities indicated the list can be very broad in scope and would accept an exporter for sanctions if the exporter were to take responsibility. For example, this would be in the case that a processor or a trading company were to be on the list, but broker product from an slaughter/packing establishment that is not on the list, they would not have to the get the product tested prior to export as the ACTUAL exporter is on the list and thus the sanctions would be applied to the exporter and not to the slaughter/packer establishment. USMEF has made this request and will continue to press for this action; however, USMEF cautions this scenario has not been confirmed. USMEF invites trading companies, cold storages and processors to participate on the list in the event the Taiwanese accept the “Exporter of Record” proposal.

USMEF has asked for conditions related to pipeline products in an effort to reduce risk for products exporter prior to the implementation of this “improvement plan.” Taiwan officials indicated that products loaded for shipment (in the 0203 category) prior to the date that they receive the list of exporters will not count against the U.S. “strike count”. This means once the list is provided, products loaded for shipping on and from that date (bill of lading date) will be subject to the new protocol.  

Once again, please send responses by e-mail to Kevin Smith at ksmith@usmef.org. USMEF will provide information on where this list will be located for viewing next week. Additionally, while companies can be added to the list, USMEF would like to provide an initial list to Taiwan officials by Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2007.

 

 

Taiwan

USMEF Collecting List Of U.S. Pork Exporters That Want To Meet Ractopamine Requirements

The Taiwan government has indicated to U.S. officials that the United States must meet their requirements for the presence of ractopamine hydrochloride for all product exported from the United States.

Taiwan has notified the WTO that they plan to implement a tolerance level for ractopamine, however, there is not a date set for this implementation and thus no timeline for completion. Currently, the United States has four violations for this compound in shipments classified as HS 0203 and if there is a fifth violation in this category, prior to providing a list of companies that agree to ship ractopamine-free product, it would result in a complete ban of U.S. pork in the 0203 classification.

To avoid a government export verification program, USMEF has been asked to create a list of exporters that want to participate in the Taiwan market operating with a zero tolerance for ractopamine hydrochloride. By placing your company and establishment number(s) on this list, your company commits to sending U.S. pork products in the HS 0203 category that meet Taiwan requirements related to ractopamine hydrochloride (a zero tolerance for residues) and avoid pre-shipment testing for ractopamine. Once the initial list is submitted to Taiwan, the United States will then return to a “zero strike” status for 0203 classification. 

Below is a breakdown of what the United States has agreed to with Taiwan along with related points, which still need clarification. USMEF asks that you review this program and submit the following by e-mail to USMEF Assistant Director, Export Services Kevin Smith at ksmith@usmef.org. Taiwan has indicated this list can be expanded or reduced at any time in the future.

Company name

Establishment numbers of all facilities to be included on the list (this can include cold storages, processors, etc)

Company/establishment addresses to be included on the list

Program for 0203 product
If the establishment is on the list:

• Products exported to Taiwan in the HS 0203 category will be subjected to testing for ractopamine at a rate of 20 percent of shipments.
• If a violation is detected, 100 percent of shipments from the offending facility/company will be subjected to testing for ractopamine. If five consecutive shipments clear without a violation at the 100 percent level, the establishment/company will return to the 20 percent testing level.
• Product exported will NOT have to have any pre-shipment test for ractopamine conducted prior to shipment.

If the establishment is not on the list:

• Products to be exported to Taiwan in the HS 0203 category must be tested for ractopamine, with a negative result, prior to shipment to Taiwan. Taiwan authorities will not present the product for customs clearance without documentation certifying this test occurred. All shipments will be subjected to testing for ractopamine. If a violation is found, the establishment/company will be delisted.

Program for all other product codes except 0203
Products exported to Taiwan in categories different then the 0203 category (0206, for example) will continue to be subject to a testing level of 5 percent of shipments.

• If a violation is found in one of these categories, the shipment will be rejected and the exporter will be subjected to 20 percent testing of shipments in that category to be tested for ractopamine. If a second violation is found from the same exporter, the rate will increase to 100 percent.

Overall
With this program, the United States, as a country, as five strikes per HS classification regardless if the strike is found in product from companies that participate in the list or not. This means any violations detected result in a strike in that category and five strikes in a category will result in a total ban of product in that category. 

USMEF has requested any sanctions applied in the event of a violation be applied to the “Exporter of Record”. Taiwan has not rejected this idea; however, we have not received a clear and concise answer as to how this will be applied. It was first stated that sanctions would applied to the exporter by the FSIS establishment number, however, Taiwan authorities indicated the list can be very broad in scope and would accept an exporter for sanctions if the exporter were to take responsibility. For example, this would be in the case that a processor or a trading company were to be on the list, but broker product from an slaughter/packing establishment that is not on the list, they would not have to the get the product tested prior to export as the ACTUAL exporter is on the list and thus the sanctions would be applied to the exporter and not to the slaughter/packer establishment. USMEF has made this request and will continue to press for this action; however, USMEF cautions this scenario has not been confirmed. USMEF invites trading companies, cold storages and processors to participate on the list in the event the Taiwanese accept the “Exporter of Record” proposal.

USMEF has asked for conditions related to pipeline products in an effort to reduce risk for products exporter prior to the implementation of this “improvement plan.” Taiwan officials indicated that products loaded for shipment (in the 0203 category) prior to the date that they receive the list of exporters will not count against the U.S. “strike count”. This means once the list is provided, products loaded for shipping on and from that date (bill of lading date) will be subject to the new protocol.  

Once again, please send responses by e-mail to Kevin Smith at ksmith@usmef.org. USMEF will provide information on where this list will be located for viewing next week. Additionally, while companies can be added to the list, USMEF would like to provide an initial list to Taiwan officials by Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2007.