Don’t follow double standards
Understand China’s rules, US exporters urged
US farm product exporters should avoid double standards in trade with China, Chinese experts said on Sunday, as they called for adequate efforts to guarantee COVID-19-free shipments.
The reported decision by some US shippers to forgo sales to China due to official virus-free declarations requested by Chinese authorities won't hamper the implementation of the phase one trade deal, they noted.
US food and feed exporters have their items shipped to China with commitment letters assuring cargo safety in lieu of official declarations, a Reuters report said on Friday, citing the statements drafted by the Agriculture Transportation Coalition (AgTC).
The letters “are meant only to assure importers that shipments have been harvested, processed and handled consistent with industry safety standards and guidelines from medical experts,” the report said.
The request for official guarantees is resulting in some shippers opting to forgo the Chinese trade, the report said, without elaborating.
Demands for internationally acceptable virus-free guarantees are justified to ensure the safety of food and agricultural products, said Bai Ming, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.
The US, which took the lead in banning travel from China early this year in an attempt to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus, has no grounds for not abiding by Chinese demands now, Bai told the Global Times on Sunday, lambasting those who intentionally avoid Chinese coronavirus-related public health requirements of using “double standards.”
As part of broad-based efforts to contain the virus amid mounting fears of a second wave, Chinese customs has toughened controls – especially on meat imports from COVID-19 hotspots.
The General Administration of Customs (GAC) suspended pork imports from COVID-19-hit German meatpacker Toennies in June. The GAC also suspended imports from Tyson Foods, one of the top meat producers in the US, over cluster infections earlier in the month.
Adding to fears of a second bout, the US reported 45,255 new cases on Friday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, the first time the figure topped the 40,000 mark and the second day of record high spikes.
Coronavirus-free guarantees could put an added burden on exporters and that’s not something exclusively demanded by Chinese authorities, Gao Lingyun, an expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, told the Global Times on Sunday.
Such guarantees are intended to ease importers’ worries, according to Gao, stressing that “we’re glad to see commitment statements from overseas industry groups” that attest to coronavirus-proof shipments to China.
Some exporters might temporarily steer clear of China trade due to a toughening stance on shipment declarations, and it is even possible that such moves would be taken advantage of by those with ulterior motives, Gao said.