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WTO

WTO Accession Doesn’t End U.S. Pork’s
Access Problems In China

With the dawn of the first full year of China’s membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) expectations of significant and sustained growth in U.S. pork exports to China were and remain high, but difficulties in border procedures accounted for an 11 percent decline in the volume of exports (a 2 percent decline in value) in the first four months of 2002.

China’s issuing of import licenses for pork is slow and tortuous and traders have received only limited approvals. Despite China’s WTO membership and the new, acceptable tariff system, pork imports continue to enter China through unofficial routes and there are widespread reports of Chinese importers selling products from other sources in  U.S. cartons.

Barriers to U.S. pork products are particularly discouraging since China’s total pork imports from all sources for the 1st quarter of 2002 were up from 47,700 metric tons (mt) in the first quarter of 2001 to 56,800 mt for the 1st quarter of 2002.  Similarly, pork offal demand, as measured by Chinese total import statistics, was up about 4 percent (68,000 mt) over the first four months of 2001. The major questions facing U.S. companies are how are large volumes of pork products flowing into China despite the difficulties in obtaining import licenses and who is getting the permits? The U.S. tied with the Netherlands as the major suppliers of pork offals – some 13,000 mt apiece, according to Chinese figures, but USMEF hears rumors from the trade that Chinese authorities are not currently approving requests for import licenses for pork offal, and some traders believe that smugglers still provide vast quantities of pork not reflected in import statistics. Traders are reporting that a tight border with China, and the rising Euro will ultimately reduce the competitiveness of European products later in the year, but European stomachs and front feet are still very competitive.

At the end of June, Hong Kong and nearby mainland China cold stores were full of pork, but traders were complaining that a surfeit of local production was dampening the entire pork trade.

USMEF and other U.S. meat groups have contacted the U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) office detailing the continued barriers in the meat and poultry trade with China and calling for an immediate removal of all non-tariff barriers to the meat and poultry trade in the spirit of the WTO agreement.  Industry concerns include slow approvals for imports from Beijing, the use of quota-setting powers, unrealistic import standards, and other controls designed to discourage trade.  The industry groups want USTR to help resolve these issues with its Chinese counterpart.

For more information on USMEF activities in China, contact Joel Haggard, Vice President, Asia Pacific at 011-852-2890-7408 or hongkong@usmef.org.