U.S., South Korea reduce trade impact of poultry disease

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and its counterpart in the South Korean government have reached an agreement on how to minimize the trade impacts when future cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) are detected in the United States.    The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and its counterpart in the South Korean government have reached an agreement on how to minimize the trade impacts when future cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) are detected in the United States.
   Specifically, the agreement will allow for trade restrictions at the state level instead of the country level during any future HPAI detections.
   The USDA wants to avoid a repeat of trade actions taken by South Korea’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs when the disease was detected in the United States in 2015 and all poultry products and eggs imports from the United States were banned.
   “Limiting trade restrictions during future HPAI detections to only those states with positive detections will help keep trade flowing,” said Greg Ibach, USDA’s undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs, in a statement. “The new science-based agreement will allow unaffected U.S. producers to keep poultry, poultry products and eggs going to South Korea.”
   Before the 2015 HAPI detection, South Korea imported $122 million in U.S. poultry products, making it the tenth largest market for these products. In 2017, USDA noted that South Korea’s poultry imports from all sources was $426 million, but only $46 million came from the United States.
   In August 2017, South Korea lifted its most recent HPAI-related ban on imports of U.S. poultry, poultry products and fresh eggs, imposed in response to an HPAI outbreak in March 2017.
   The U.S. poultry industry praised the agreement reached between the United States and South Korea, and look forward to sustaining and growing their exports to the country.
   “The U.S. now becomes the world’s most reliable supplier of poultry products to Korea,” said Jim Sumner, president of the USA Poultry & Egg Council. “No other country has such a regionalization agreement with Korea. We should now become their No. 1 outside supplier of chicken, turkey, eggs and egg products.”
   Other U.S. trade groups echoing this sentiment, include the National Chicken Council, National Turkey Federation, United Egg Producers, and American Egg Board.