Processing Trade News
- Rulings boost agricultural, food products trade
Date: 27-Apr-2007 Sources: (Xinhua Online)
Bilateral trade and cooperation in agriculture and food industry between China and the United States improved rapidly last year, the 2007 White Paper shows.
According to the White Paper, brought out by the American Chamber of Commerce in China, a series of steps conducive to American businesses have been taken.
China announced simplified procedures for the renewal of genetically modified organisms safety certificates for biotech crops grown domestically or imported for processing purposes, granting renewals at the end of January for all items for which application was made.
Bilateral discussions on food safety measures affecting US red meat and poultry imports saw some significant results in 2006.
Two Sino-US food safety workshops were held in March and December last year and a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) on Food Information Notification was signed by China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and the US Department of Agriculture.
The MOC established an early warning and notification system whereby respective food safety authorities in each country will notify their counterparts in the event of safety 'defects' and 'quality findings' in traded meat and poultry products. This consultative mechanism is designed to facilitate government-to-government communication prior to serious policy actions in case of such findings.
On the phytosanitary front, China lifted the ban on imports of citrus fruits from Fresno county, California, reopened imports of apples from two facilities that had been de-listed, signed a bilateral fruit fly harmonization agreement, and modified the Alaska log protocol to facilitate imports.
Trade in food and agricultural products between the two nations grew steadily last year. China is the fourth-largest overseas market for US agricultural, fish and forestry products, accounting for over 7.7 billion U.S. dollars of U.S. exports in 2006, an increase of 27 percent over the previous year.
The US continues to be China's most important supplier of agricultural, fish and forestry products, providing raw agricultural products.
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