After more than sixteen years, the Chinese government has removed the ban on Italian beef. This is an important result for Italian exports, even if the recovery times will in any case be bound by the protocol of health requirements that the parties will have to approve.
The announcement was made by the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture at the conclusion of the work with the Administration for Quality Control, Inspection and Quarantine (Aqsiq). The working table of the Italy-China government committee was chaired by foreign ministers Angelino Alfano and Wang Yi.
The next step is to define binding health requirements for the export of boneless beef from cattle less than 30 months old to China. At the same time as the agreement reached, the ban – imposed in 2012 – on Italian bovine semen for the Schmallenberg virus was then removed.
Satisfied words from the Minister of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies, Maurizio Martina: "It is a strategic result of the great work done in recent years together with the Ministry of Health and our Embassy".
“After it release on pork from last year and oranges from the beginning of 2017 – continued Martina – we pass another one historical obstacle. Opening the markets with fair rules can help thousands of our breeders and farmers, as demonstrated by the 92% increase in agricultural exports to China in recent months".
