Dairy Exports to China Need Certificates Issued by May 30

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service recently confirmed that U.S. food-grade dairy products will be allowed into China as long as they hold a current certificate issued on or before May 30.

This is the latest step in delicate discussions between the two countries regarding U.S. exports to China. On April 21, the Chinese General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) sent a letter to U.S. government officials notifying them that, due to the lack of an agreed-upon health certificate, China planned to no longer accept U.S. food-grade dairy products as of May 1.

Since that time, U.S. officials secured a 30-day extension that applies to the certificate issuance date. The extension also applies to shipments of U.S. food-grade dairy exports to China, with a heath certificate dated on or before May 30, that may still be on the water after June 1.

"We are very pleased to see U.S. government officials and their Chinese counterparts working so diligently towards a solution," said Clay Hough, IDFA senior group vice president. "Moving forward, we will be sure to notify members as a long-term solution is negotiated between the two parties."

USTR Announces Country Allocations for Additional Raw Sugar Imports

The U. S. Trade Representative this week released the country allocations for the roughly 200,000 metric tons raw value (MTRV) of tariff-rate quota (TRQ) increase announced in late April. These additional sugar imports will be allocated among 27 countries in varying amounts, ranging from 32,033 MTRV for the Dominican Republic to 1,456 MTRV for India and Bolivia. Two countries not previously included, Congo and Mauritius, will now receive quota allocations.

The new allocation will allow these countries to export sufficient amount of raw sugar to meet U.S. demands.

"The modest TRQ increase and the country allocations are great first steps to address sweetener market woes that industrial users are currently facing," said Clay Hough, IDFA senior group vice president. "IDFA encourages USTR to continue to take steps towards addressing supply crunches that have plagued consumers and users with high prices."

TRQs allow countries to export specific quantities of product to the United States at a relatively low tariff, but when import levels reach a pre-determined threshold, the countries must pay a higher tariff. USTR determined that some countries were not filling their allotments at the lower tariff level and shifted a larger share of the new quota increase to countries that are willing and able to ship more sugar to the United States.

In March, USTR reallocated about 90,000 MRTV of previously allocated sugar quota to countries that could be counted on to fill their quotas and bring more sugar into the United States.