Exporters Push For USTR To React To African Meat Ban

A long-standing US trade program is coming under scrutiny from the meat industry. The Africa Growth and Opportunities Act was designed to expand two-way trade between the United States and Sub-Saharan African nations by allowing the president to grant duty-free access to qualifying countries, but the US Meat Export Federation says some of those countries maintain strict barriers against American beef and pork. USMEF Director of Export Services Jim Remcheck,

"South Africa, over 10 years ago agreed to lift a ban on US pork; however, South Africa has continued to impose unscientific trade barriers due to porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, PRRS. So we are encouraging South Africa to adopt a science and risk-based approach and requirements in line with their WTO commitments for the Nigerian market. All fresh or non-processed US red meat is currently ineligible. It's unscientific ban, but we do see it as a tremendous growth area, and again, we think that pulling the strings on the AGOA angle could possibly give us some leverage. We're encouraging USTR to consider sanctioning or suspending Nigeria's AGOA benefits until this ban is lifted."

The Office of the US Trade Representative is currently seeking public comments on the implementation of

AGOA.