Chinese to Start Importing American Beef

The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture has officially approved renewing the imports of U.S. beef.

USDA Acting Deputy Secretary Michael Scuse said this is just the beginning of the process.

“We have to negotiate the protocols. That’s going to take some time to get a team to China to do the negotiations on the protocols. Then once we have an agreement on the protocols, then there’ll have to be an audit.”

That audit will verify that U.S. beef producers and the USDA can follow through on the directions on the protocol.

Because it is early in the process, Scuse doesn’t have an exact timeline as to when beef will actually enter China.

“We understand how important this is for our industry. We’ll do what we can to make sure that it’s done in a timely manner. But again, this is also going to be dependent on the Chinese as well.”

Scuse said demand for American beef in China is very strong.