The U.S. has asked China to come back to the negotiating table this month in a renewed effort to get the country to lift its ban on U.S. beef, but no new meeting has been agreed on yet.
The U.S. assured China that the beef here is safe and proposed that "a U.S. delegation meet with Chinese officials this month to discuss the resumption of trade on the full range of (beef) products," according to a copy of a letter sent by U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns that was dated Aug.1.
China has not yet responded to the letter, USDA spokesman Ed Loyd said. The letter, a copy of which was obtained by Dow Jones Newswires, was addressed to Chinese Minister of General Administration Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine Li Changjiang.
The USDA believed it had a significant promise from China in April that would lead to a swift resumption in U.S. beef exports, but after three bilateral meetings in Beijing and a surprise announcement by China in June, the two countries have agreed on nothing.
China had promised in April to begin buying U.S. beef by the end of June and made a unilateral decision to do so on June 30 even though the U.S. did not agree to the terms set forth. There have been no U.S. beef exports to China because the Bush Administration rejected the restrictions China wanted to put on imports.
USDA's Johanns, in the August letter, criticized China's demands that only boneless cuts from cattle under 30 months old be eligible.
"We continue to contend that this very limited access does not reflect our joint efforts to reach a mutually acceptable solution," Johanns said. And he warned that the restrictions China is demanding "will only increase trade tensions and make it more difficult for us to mutually address this issue."
China banned U.S. beef in December 2003 after the U.S. discovered a cow infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, also known as mad cow disease. Since then, the U.S. has announced finding two more cows with BSE, a neurological disease that can be passed on to humans through tainted meat.
China was a relatively small market for U.S. beef compared to some Asian countries such as Japan and South Korea, but U.S. ranchers and exporters believe there is the potential for significant trade growth. In 2003 the U.S. exported 12,422 metric tons of beef to China worth $28.4 million.
Much of the May and June U.S.-China meetings over beef trade centered around how safe U.S. beef is, according to USDA officials who asked not to be named. China disputed U.S. claims that the country should fall under the international "negligible" risk category - the category for countries with the least mad-cow disease risk.
Johanns informed the Chinese in the August letter that the USDA will be submitting its application for an official "determination of a risk status category" by the World Organization for Animal Health.
There are three categories under World Organization for Animal Health standards - "negligible," "controlled" and "undetermined." The U.S. would prefer to be considered "negligible" because it provides negotiators with a stronger case for countries to reopen borders.
Source:佚名