On Sunday evening, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service declared that China’s poultry-slaughter system is not equivalent and so poultry slaughtered in China is not allowed to be imported to the United States. The statement comes after a press release from Sen. Chuck Schumer’s office questioned the equivalency of China’s poultry-slaughter system. In December 2010, China requested FSIS to evaluate its poultry-slaughter system, and FSIS was legally obligated to move forward with an audit. FSIS has not released the results of this audit as it has not been finalized. If the audit reveals food-safety issues with China’s poultry-slaughter system, then China will be required to take corrective actions and then be audited again in order for the process to continue.
