Senators Push USDA to Engage South Africa, South Korea on US Poultry Import Requirements
Nine senators urged Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to engage the governments of South Africa and South Korea over requirements that poultry exported from the U.S. be hatched and raised in this country. The Agriculture Department has sufficiently worked to prevent and respond to the presence of avian flu since the first positive test of 2015, which sparked overseas health concerns, the lawmakers said. In a letter to Vilsack (here), five Republicans and four Democrats said South African and South Korean import requirements that contain the phrase, “must be hatched and raised in the United States” is significantly disrupting trade, while no scientific evidence points to avian flu's existence in U.S. poultry products. The South African and South Korean restrictions set negative precedents for future trade negotiations with other nations, the senators said.
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“It is important to note that the National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP) is already recognized as the gold standard around the world for ensuring that no products from diseased poultry enter the marketplace,” the letter says. “As a result, customers both in the U.S. and abroad can be confident they are purchasing poultry products from birds free of disease.” The lawmakers touted USDA’s creation of the Export Verification program allowing exports of eligible, validated poultry products hatched and raised in the U.S., but said the program is only a short-term solution. “Right now, just two important markets are affected, but we are concerned that this language could be requested by additional countries in the future,” the senators wrote. They also asked that Vilsack provide Congress with an assessment of the Export Verification program’s effectiveness and USDA’s opinion on its use in future trade negotiations.