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China opens gates to US beef imports
June 20, 2017

[Go to URL to view photo] China opened its gates to US beef imports this week, giving American cattle farmers much sought-after access to the country's massive market following a 14-year ban (AFP Photo/JUSTIN SULLIVAN)

Beijing (AFP) - China opened its gates to US beef imports this week, giving American cattle farmers much sought-after access to the country's massive market following a 14-year ban.

Shipments of eligible US beef have been allowed to enter China since Tuesday, the General Adminstration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said in a statement.

Announced last month, the lifting of the beef embargo was one of the first concrete results of trade discussions that began when Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Donald Trump at the US leader's resort in Florida in April.

The agreement, seen as a sign of warming trade ties between the world's largest economies, also gives US natural gas and certain financial services access to China's market of nearly 1.4 billion people.

In return the United States will allow cooked Chinese poultry to enter US markets.

China imposed a ban on US beef imports following a case of mad cow disease in the United States in 2003.

To ensure the safety and quality of the imported meat, China insists that US beef comes from cattle younger than 30 months.

The animals must be traceable to their birth farm.

"Cattle should be born and raised in the US, or born in Mexico or Canada and slaughtered in the US," China's quarantine authorities said.

"Cattle should not be the offspring of those that were suspected of having or confirmed to have mad cow disease."

Beef consumption in China is rising owing to the country's fast-growing middle class, though pork still accounts for more than 60 percent of the meat consumed.

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Originally posted by Aeteocles:
Should we be concerned about raising beef prices here then?

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Originally posted by jimmy123x:
China who has some of the worst safe food handling processes in the world are afraid of how safe American beef is and where it comes from???????

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Originally posted by nhtagmember:
I wish we could get some decent beef here in Tucson

I saw a pot roast at Safeway - $12 per pound so I bought one - it was absolutely tasteless

even the texture when cooked was abysmal - I had better beef at McDonald's

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Originally posted by nhtagmember:
I wish we could get some decent beef here in Tucson

I saw a pot roast at Safeway - $12 per pound so I bought one - it was absolutely tasteless

even the texture when cooked was abysmal - I had better beef at McDonald's

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U.S. bans fresh Brazil beef imports over safety concerns
by Reuters
Thursday, 22 June 2017 23:20 GMT
By Tom Polansek

CHICAGO, June 22 (Reuters) - The United States halted imports of fresh Brazilian beef on Thursday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said, after a high percentage of shipments failed to pass safety checks.

The USDA had "recurring concerns about the safety of the products intended for the American market," after increasing tests on Brazilian beef in March, according to a statement.

The agency raised scrutiny on Brazilian beef and ready-to-eat products as a precaution following an investigation into corruption involving Brazil's health inspectors that targeted meat companies JBS SA and BRF SA.

JBS, the world's largest meat packer, declined to comment on the U.S. ban.

The USDA's action threatens the reputation of meat from Brazil, the world's top exporter of beef and poultry, even though the United States is not a top customer. It also could boost domestic sales in the United States.

"Product was already on the water and that's not going to be allowed in," Altin Kalo, a U.S. livestock analyst at Steiner Consulting Group, said about shipments headed to the United States from Brazil via boat.

Since March, the USDA has rejected 11 percent of Brazilian fresh beef products, compared to the rejection rate of 1 percent for shipments from the rest of the world, the agency said. The shipments, totaling about 1.9 million pounds, raised concerns about public health, animal health and sanitation, according to the USDA.

The agency said none of the rejected lots made it into the U.S. market.

The move to block Brazilian meat is a turnaround for Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, who warned in March that Brazil might retaliate if the United States halted beef imports.

On Thursday, he said in a statement that "although international trade is an important part of what we do at USDA, and Brazil has long been one of our partners, my first priority is to protect American consumers."

The U.S. suspension will remain in place until Brazil's Agriculture Ministry "takes corrective action which the USDA finds satisfactory," according to the agency.

A slew of global buyers, including China, Egypt and Chile, curtailed imports of Brazilian meat after Brazilian federal police unveiled an investigation into alleged corruption in the sector on March 17.

Brazilian authorities said at the time that meat companies made payments to government health officials to forego inspections and cover up health violations.

The United States began allowing shipments of fresh beef from Brazil last year after banning them due to concerns about foot and mouth disease in cattle.

(Additional reporting by Michael Hirtzer in Chicago and Tatiana Bautzer in Sao Paulo; Editing by David Gregorio and Bill Trott)

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Originally posted by Aeteocles:
Should we be concerned about raising beef prices here then?

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Originally posted by SapperSteel:

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Originally posted by Aeteocles:
Should we be concerned about raising beef prices here then?

Dear God, I hope so! Prices as of last November might have been sufficient to sustain megaAgribusiness, but were putting little ranches like me (1,400 acres, wintering over 200 head) out of business.

You may be paying $8/lb for that T-Bone steak, but the guy who raises that beef is only seeing about 12% of that.

Almost everybody else in the chain of commerce has some control over his sales point/what he can charge. The rancher does NOT. My beef is worth what the market says it's worth at any given instant, and not a penny more. My only choice is sell or not sell, not what the sales price will be.

The old saying is that "The rancher is the only businessman who buys at retail, sells at wholesale, and pays the freight both ways."

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Originally posted by SapperSteel:


In return the United States will allow cooked Chinese poultry to enter US markets.