China to Lift Ban on American Pork

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By Daren Sukhram

Story Created: Oct 29, 2009 at 11:26 AM CST

Story Updated: Oct 29, 2009 at 11:26 AM CST

Washington, DC – Thursday, Congressman Leonard Boswell announced that China will lift its ban on U.S. pork imports that it enacted in the wake of the H1N1 outbreak in humans and the media’s mischaracterization of the disease as “swine flu.”

“This is a huge step toward the recovery of Iowa’s long-suffering pork industry,” Boswell said. “China’s unfounded ban on U.S. pork products had further devastated an industry that was already in financial turmoil. Iowa pork producers and their families can breathe a bit easier now that the country’s third largest pork importer is accepting their products again. I applaud Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack for his dedication to negotiating with the Chinese government to reopen this valuable trade route.”

The pork industry has lost an average of $22 to $23 per hog over the last 24 months. Since September 2007, the industry has lost more than $5.3 billion, or 66 percent, of its equity.

China announced it would lift the U.S. pork ban at the end of the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade meeting in Hangzhou, China.

Secretary Vilsack and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke attended this meeting.

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