The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency have agreed to recognize each other’s organic certifications. As of June 30, 2009, Canada will have national organic standards in place that have been determined to be the equivalent of U.S. National Organic Program requirements. Thus, products meeting U.S. standards can be sold as organic in Canada, and vice versa. The only exception is for products from fields in the United States treated with sodium nitrate; such crops cannot be sold in Canada as organic. The agreement, however, does away with the need for a three-year transition period from sodium nitrate use. According to USDA, “more than 80 percent of Canada’s organic consumption comes from imports, and approximately 75 percent of those imports come from the United States.” The value of the total market for organic products in Canada apparently ranges from $2.1 to $2.6 billion. U.S. Trade…
Tag Archives import/export
According to a news source, a Las Vegas-based company and its co-owners have agreed to plead guilty to charges that they imported from China melamine-tainted wheat gluten used to make the pet food that purportedly sickened and killed thousands of cats and dogs in the United States and Canada in 2007. More details about the criminal indictments appear in issue 247 of this Update. ChemNutra, Inc. and its co-owners, Stephen and Sally Miller, have apparently reached an agreement with federal prosecutors and will enter their pleas during a June 16, 2009, hearing. The export broker, a Chinese company, allegedly mislabeled 800 metric tons of wheat gluten to avoid inspection in China and did not properly declare the contaminated product when it was shipped to the United States for use in pet food. ChemNutra took delivery of the wheat gluten in Kansas City and then sold it to various pet food manufacturers.…
According to the Environment Group of the Pew Charitable Trusts, salmon farming companies producing fish for export to the United States from Canada, Norway and Scotland are using pesticides and antibiotics that do not appear on the FDA/CVM Approved Drugs in Aquaculture list. In an April 23, 2009, letter to the acting Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner, the Pew Environment Group notes how FDA inspections have successfully addressed the use of banned drugs in Chile’s salmon farming facilities and calls for the agency to expand its focus to imports from other countries. Contending that these drugs pose threats to human health and the environment, the group cites detailed evidence suggesting that other countries are using unapproved drugs in salmon aquaculture and asks the FDA (i) whether it intends to require all companies exporting salmon to the United States to adhere to U.S. regulations; (ii) how it reconciles its requirement…
The consumer advocacy group Food & Water Watch (FWWatch) recently launched a campaign to block chicken imports from China, where several U.S. companies are reportedly building plants. Alleging that these corporations are “putting pressure” on lawmakers, FWWatch has asked Congress to uphold its 2008 ban on imported processed poultry in light of “specific problems” with China’s food safety standards and inspection system. In particular, the group pointed to the rejection of other Chinese imports due to “contamination with melamine or banned chemicals like chloramphenicol; pesticide residues and unsafe additives; and conditions inspectors described as ‘poisonous’ and ‘filthy.’” “Even worse,” according to FWWatch, “China has experienced several outbreaks of the very contagious bird flu that has not only infected poultry but also been fatally transmitted to humans.” See Food & Water Watch Action Alert, April 14, 2009.
Companies that produce honey, mushroom, garlic, and crawfish products have filed a putative class action against major insurance companies and the U.S. government, alleging that the negligent issuance of customs surety bonds allowed the sale of massive quantities of competing, lower-cost Chinese products. Sioux Honey Ass’n v. Hartford Fire Ins. Co., No. 09-00141 (Ct. Int’l Trade, filed April 7, 2009). Filed in the U.S. Court of International Trade, the lawsuit claims that for eight years, insurers issued hundreds of the bonds to “thinly capitalized” and inexperienced shippers, guaranteeing the payment of any anti-dumping duties the government might decide were owed by U.S. importers for specific Chinese goods. The plaintiffs contend that the insurers failed to follow underwriting standards and thus issued bonds to importers posing an unacceptable risk of default. Had the insurers not issued the bonds to importers, “little if any of the imports that were secured by those bonds…
The Organic Trade Association (OTA) has announced that the United States and Canada have agreed to finalize negotiations on their organic equivalency standards before the new rule is implemented on June 30, 2009, to ensure trade continues uninterrupted. The new Organic Products Regulations will require all Canadian organic products to be endorsed by a certification body accredited by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). The rules were designed to create a nationwide standard for Canadian products but raised fears that products previously accepted as organic from other countries, including the United States, could be shut out if they did not comply. The U.S. final rule on national organic standards was fully implemented in October 2002 and is slightly different than the new Canadian regulation. An official of the OTA was quoted as saying, “Canadian consumers will definitely benefit from this, and will continue to enjoy quality year-round organic products from…
The European Commission has reportedly indicated that it will file a World Trade Organization (WTO) challenge to the U.S. decision to impose new tariffs on European Union (EU) products involved in sanctions stemming from a dispute over beef hormones. The EU has banned hormone-treated beef since the early 1980s, and the WTO ruled in 1998 that the ban violated trade rules, thus opening the door for U.S. and Canadian trade sanctions. While the EU contends that it has scientific grounds to support the ban, the United States and Canada have maintained their trade sanctions against the European bloc. According to a French Roquefort cheese producer, 100 percent tariffs have been imposed on his products for nine years; a new sanctions update has increased the penalty to 300 percent. “Sales of Roquefort to the United States will be finished,” he reportedly said. At issue is a Bush administration decision to suspend the…
USDA this week issued a final rule for its mandatory country-of-origin labeling (COOL) program, which applies to beef, pork, lamb, chicken, goat meat, wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish, perishable agricultural commodities, peanuts, pecans, ginseng, and macadamia nuts. USDA had previously published an interim final rule in advance of a September 30, 2008, implementation deadline to incorporate changes required by the 2008 Farm Bill, including the addition of several agricultural commodities. Effective March 16, 2009, the final rule takes into account public comments on the interim version. In particular, the rule clarifies USDA’s position on multiple countries of origin labeling and eliminates allowances for commodities of U.S. origin to retain this designation if processed or handled in foreign countries. The final rule also upholds a provision criticized by the Ranchers-Cattlemen Legal Fund (RCALF) that excludes processed food ingredients from COOL regulations. “Publication of the final rule may alleviate some of…
“A far cry from the innocent image of Winnie the Pooh with a paw stuck in the honey pot, the international honey trade has become increasingly rife with crime and intrigue,” claims a recent Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Seattle P-I)investigative report on the widespread practice of “honey laundering,” the illegal practice of transshipping products through other countries to avoid U.S. import fees, protective tariffs or taxes. In addition, the global market is “plagued by foreign hucksters and shady importers who rip off conscientious U.S. packers with honey diluted with sugar water or corn syrup – or worse, tainted with pesticides or antibiotics.” Seattle P-I allegedly found that (i) “tens of thousands of pounds of honey entering the U.S. each year come from countries that raise few bees and have no record of producing honey for export”; (ii) “only a small fraction [of honey] is inspected, and seizures and arrests remain rare”; and (iii)…
In late December 2008, Mexico banned imports of meat from 30 U.S. processing facilities, telling the USDA that sanitary issues were to blame, although some, including Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), suggested that the move was in retaliation for the new country-of-origin labeling (COOL) rules that took effect September 30. Mexican officials denied any connection and reportedly lifted the embargo for 26 of the plants as of December 30. According to a news source, Mexico is the leading buyer of U.S. meat, and the suspension led to a sharp decline in cattle and hog futures at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. U.S. and Mexican officials were reportedly scheduled to meet January 5, 2009, to discuss meat import issues. Meanwhile, Mexico has reportedly joined Canada before the World Trade Organization seeking consultations with the United States over the COOL regulations. The two countries are apparently most concerned about the impact on meat and livestock,…
