Mark Drajem is reporting for Bloomberg Press online that negotiations on the Agriculture Appropriations bill has yielded a potential change in policy that could lead to better trade relations between China and the United States. The lawmakers have “agreed to end a ban on Chinese poultry imports,” but will the rest of the Congress go along? And does the language amount to legislating on an appropriations bill, subjecting it to a potential “point of order”? We shall soon find out.Earlier this year the ban was a point of protest by China at the World Trade Organization. But what Congress wants to do one day, can become something totally different as the legislative process unfolds. U.S. Agriculture Secretary issued this statement about the agreement to end the ban with along with creating new inspection rules, ‘“The agreement reached by the conferees will maintain the safety of our food supply and ensure that America takes a leadership role in supporting a science and rules-based trading system [.]”’
The new legislative language was apparently agreed to by the conferees for the bill that funds the Agriculture Department and various agriculture programs implemented by the department. According to Bloomberg, “U.S. meat and poultry producers opposed the ban when it was approved by Congress in March because of possible retaliation, and in June, China banned many imports of U.S. chicken. The USA Poultry & Egg Export Council said China’s action was in response for the congressional prohibition on cooked Chinese poultry.”
China trails only the United States in terms of poultry consumption and production. American producers shipped hundreds of millions of dollars worth of poultry to China last year. Then Congress banned the importation of cooked chicken in last year’s Omnibus spending bill. Representative DeLauro (Connecticut) maintains the ban was solely about food safety. This action prompted China to file a complaint against the U.S. in Geneva at the World Trade Organization, claiming the ban was ‘“unfair and malicious’ and violates global trade rules.”
This year the House voted to keep the ban going in their version of the agriculture spending bill while the Senate did the opposite—thus the need for today’s compromise in order for the Agriculture Appropriations bill to move forward. As Bloomberg reports, “The change doesn’t mean that the U.S. will begin importing cooked poultry. Passage of the legislation would remove a prohibition and leave the import decision to the Agriculture Department, which examines the safety of Chinese imports.”
To read the Bloomberg story click here.
Posted: 09/25/09
