WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following the outbreak of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) joined Senators Joni Ernst (R-IA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Roy Blunt (R-MO), John Boozman (R-AR), Joe Donnelly (D-IN), Al Franken (D-MN), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), and John Thune (R-SD) on a bipartisan letter addressed to United States Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack asking for increased efforts to end discrimination against American turkey exports by addressing unscientific import requirements imposed by two U.S. trading partners. North Carolina is ranked #2 nationally in total turkey production.
The Senators wrote in part, “As a result of last year’s outbreak, certain countries are requiring that all poultry exported from the U.S. be hatched and raised in this country. The most significant markets in question are South Africa and the Republic of Korea. As currently included in import requirements for both countries, the phrase ‘must be hatched and raised in the United States’ is causing significant disruption to trade even though there is no scientific evidence for its existence and sets a negative precedent for future trade negotiations with other nations.
They continued, “The impact of the 2015/2016 HPAI outbreak has left long-lasting, undesirable consequences for the poultry industry, and the ‘hatched and raised’ requirement is one that needs attention. This new restriction appears to represent a non-scientific trade barrier that limits the turkey industry’s ability to export abroad.”
The full text of the letter is below, and can be found by clicking here.
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