Posted: 05.03.2010

China will not close the door to U.S. dairy imports – at least not for another 30 days. The U.S. Dairy Export Council says fast action by the U.S. Foreign Agriculture Service, Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service, Food & Drug Administration and the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office has convinced the Chinese to give the U.S. 30 more days to come to an agreement on a new health certificate for food-grade dairy exports to China. On April 21 the Chinese General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) sent a letter to the U.S. government telling them that because there was no agreed upon health certificate, that China would no longer accept US food grade dairy products as of May 1^st.  There had been no prior talks about the inadequacy of the US certification prior to the Chinese government’s notification to the US last week.  The Dairy Export Council, International Dairy Foods Association and National Milk Producers Federation all will be working closely with the US government to make sure there is a resolution to this issue over the next 30 days.  Dairy trade with China has almost tripled over the past 5 years.  In 2005 Dairy exports to china totaled $61.6 million, and in 2008 the number was over $180 million. 

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