China lifts ban on importing poultry products from the US

The ban on importing poultry products from the US has been revoked by the Chinese Government after nearly five years.

This decision is expected to affect US poultry producers shipping goods worth $1bn to China annually.

Repealing the ban is the result of negotiations between the two countries to resolve their 16-month long trade war. Ongoing negotiations are focused on improving access to the Chinese market for US farm products. This supports US President Donald Trump’s agenda of doubling the US’ agricultural sales to China.

The repeal is effective immediately and already being implemented by Chinese customs officials.

In January 2015, China banned all imports of poultry products from the US after the detection of the highly pathogenic avian influenza in the country. This ban covered all poultry breeding stock, including live chicks and hatching eggs.

That same year, many other countries also imposed restrictions on US poultry products after a severe form of bird flu was discovered in Arkansas, the third-largest turkey producer in the US and also the location of the country’s biggest chicken company, Tyson Foods.

Last week, the US Food Safety and Inspection Service made changes to its Federal Register in order to approve poultry product imports sourced from birds slaughtered in China.

China is currently facing a shortage of meat after millions of pigs were killed by African swine fever.