11/13/07 Historic Agreement

Historic Agreement. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. Oregon has become the first state to reach an agreement with China on testing and certification of food products both exported and imported to and from the Asian nation. An historic agreement has been signed this week in Portland that paves the way for added assurance that food products going in both directions meet standards and requirements for quality and food safety. The Oregon Department of Agriculture's laboratory and export service program will conduct testing and certification. This same agreement has been reached with other key export markets. Now add China to the list. HOBBS: Because of this nearly 20 years experience of doing export certification of agricultural products, the Chinese government had great confidence in the technical capability of the Oregon Department of Agriculture. ODA Assistant Director Dalton Hobbs says this voluntary program can add certainty for U.S. importers that Chinese food products are safe even though the Food and Drug Administration does sample and test a portion of all imported foods. HOBBS: In the past, this has been hit and miss. There have been holes, there have been problems that we've heard about. Hopefully, this will begin to alleviate these problems by having a more rigorous and transparent system of testing. No other state has been officially recognized by the Chinese government as having the capability to ensure its food standards and requirements. The program is expected to lead to greater export opportunities for Oregon, the U.S., and China. Hobbs says the agreement will allow ODA to test and certify that Chinese food products coming into the U.S. meet our federal standards. HOBBS: So that adds additional assurance that the products that are being shipped to the United States meet all of the applicable US laws for food safety and food quality. Hobbs says the signed agreement between China and ODA will address both food exports from the U.S. going into China and food imports from China going into the U.S. HOBBS: It's an additional service we hope will add value to Oregon agricultural exports to China and will enhance the food safety situation here in the United States for food products that are coming in from China. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.