New US Meat Processing Plants Approved for Export to China

China's General Administration of Customs recently approved 18 US beef establishments and 12 us pork establishments for export to China. The first new US plants were cleared to export for China in about 10 months. Aaron Borror, US Meat Export Federation vice president for economic analysis says the plan approval process was streamlined by the US and China Phase One Economic and Trade Agreement and has worked well since this agreement was implemented in early 2020.

“The Phase One agreement has many benefits for US agriculture, but particularly related to plant approvals. Since the 2020 implementation of the Phase One agreement, China has further rolled out land and establishment registration processes that are fairly complex and fortunately for us beef and pork, Phase one takes precedent. USDA Food Safety Inspection Service Plan approvals are still what is recognized by China. And up until about December of last year, that process was working and in place, and then this year in 2023. We hadn't seen any plant list updates.”

Borror notes that while beef shipments to China are down from the record large volumes of 2022. China is still the fourth largest destination for US beef exports and has strong upside potential. China also remains the largest destination for us pork variety meats which are up 9% year over year to China.