SECRET DEAL: US May Lift Ban on Raw Chinese Chicke

SECRET DEAL: US May Lift Ban on Raw Chinese Chicken if China Lifts Ban on US Beef

Chicken raised in China is currently banned in the United States and several countries around the world due to health risks, but the U.S. ban could soon end. A deal is believed to be in the works that will open the American market to Chinese chicken in exchange for China accepting U.S. beef.

In order for Chinese chicken to be eligible for import into the United States, the USDA must approve China’s slaughter and processing systems. Those approvals are moving forward.

In August China was approved for processing non-Chinese chickens to be sent to the United States. Politicians, media, and health advocates have decried this approval due to China’s long record of tainted products and poisonous foods.

“This is a first step, this is a foot in the door to get to the end goal, which is Chinese origin chickens raised there, killed there, processed there, and then that product comes here,” said Patty Lovera, assistant director of Food & Water Watch, in a phone interview. “That isn’t yet allowed, but it is the next step.”

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) warned during a Nov. 10 press conference that China processing chickens was only the beginning.

“The USDA is getting ready to allow chickens that are raised and processed in China to be sold here,” Schumer said.

He cited examples of some of China’s tainted foods, including glass chips found in Chinese pumpkin seeds and deadly melamine in Chinese baby formula. Schumer said China’s poor food safety record is especially a concern given that “because of cutbacks, our U.S. Department of Agriculture does not do the inspections that are needed and necessary.”

The USDA responded to Schumer, saying in a statement, “USDA has not found China’s poultry slaughter system to be equivalent and therefore poultry slaughtered in China is not allowed to be imported to the United States.”

However, the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is currently auditing China’s chicken slaughter system, and the current audit may lead to approval.

A representative from FSIS told Epoch Times by email the department “is still in the process of conducting an audit on the Chinese slaughter system. FSIS has sent the audit report results to China for comment. We are awaiting their response.”

Poultry For Beef

Experts believe the moves by the USDA regarding Chinese chicken are being taken to end a trade war that began when China banned U.S. beef in 2003, after a case of mad cow disease was found in Washington state.

Importing beef to China, Lovera of Food and Water Watch said, is the bargaining chip meant to open U.S. markets to Chinese chicken.