By ANN HINCH
Assistant Editor

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A year ago, a new USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) rule added The People’s Republic of China to its list of countries approved to export certain types of processed poultry to the United States, provided the birds originated from and were slaughtered in the U.S. or Canada.

Now USDA is considering a proposed rule to add to that list chickens raised and slaughtered in China – and at least one federal legislator is trying to halt it.

According to a letter penned by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) to
USDA Secretary Mike Johanns earlier this month, USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr. Richard Raymond “assured (Chinese) officials that the agency would begin the regulatory process to permit (China) to export poultry” slaughtered there.

Not only does DeLauro – chair of the House Appropriations Committee on Agriculture – want to put a stop to this, she wants last year’s rule rescinded. She cited “filthy conditions in both 2004 and 2005” when FSIS inspectors visited Chinese processing and slaughter facilities, as well as the recent troubles with melamine-tainted wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate imported from China and used in pet and livestock feed.

In addition, she referenced an incident last July in which 2,000 pounds of illegally-imported frozen chicken from China was smuggled into Michigan, as “proof that the U.S. government cannot ensure the safety of imports from China.”

FSIS press spokesman Steven Cohen said no assurance has been guaranteed to China. “This is a very long process,” he said of application to be included on the list of eligible countries, and that China actually applied in 2004; last year’s rule was the first approval from that application.

“It’s not a proposed rule, yet,” he added. “It has a very long way to go before it’s even a proposed rule.”
Such propositions, he said, are then subject to public comment and review and alteration by several federal governmental offices and USDA. So far, slaughtering in Chinese facilities has gained equivalency through American inspection and auditing processes.

“No one should assume that even proposing a rule means that the rule will become final,” Cohen said.

He explained even if FSIS were to approve Chinese-slaughtered imports, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has to agree.

Moreover, Cohen said businesses have to be amenable to dealing in the cooked, packaged chicken meat from China. To his knowledge, no American chicken producer has yet taken advantage of last year’s rule to ship carcasses to China for processing and cooking and return the finished product to the U.S.

“From an economic standpoint, (the rule) was unrealistic since a North American firm would have to export raw poultry to (China) for processing only for it to be shipped back here to the United States,” DeLauro wrote.

It seems unlikely that importing Chinese chicken would be more economical for American consumers than selling them domestic poultry.

So why even propose the rules?

Last year, some poultry experts weighed-in to Farm World with their opinions. One pointed out with an increasing population and demand for chicken in Asia, establishing friendly rules might expand that market for American producers. Another suggested it is to show confidence in Chinese birds, especially given the avian influenza worry over the past few years – again, so China will be less likely to impose bans on American food based on reports of Mad Cow or similar contamination.

“All it is is a process that all countries are eligible for,” Cohen said of application to export to the United States.

“(Approval is) based solely upon food safety concerns” with a basis in science and “fair and equitable” standards. “And we expect the same treatment from other countries.”

This farm news was published in the June 2, 2007 issue of Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee.