China Ends Ban on U.S. Beef Imports

China has removed a ban on the import of bone-in beef and boneless beef from cattle under 30 months old, reversing a policy in place since 2003.

The lifting of the ban will be effective immediately with conditions as announced through a statement issued by China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine. Imports will still be required to meet all traceability, inspection and quarantine protocols.

The original ban was instated after a case of mad cow disease was detected in Washington State in 2003. However, pressure brought by a growing population and expanding, more affluent middle class over the past decade has driven the need to increase meat imports.

In the first seven months of 2016 China’s beef imports jumped by 51 percent compared to the year before, and Rabobank expects the country’s beef and veal imports for the year to jump by 24 percent to 825,000 tons – twice what they were in 2013.

More on this story