CHICAGO: US officials are urgently seeking an agreement with South Korea that would allow imports of American eggs so farmers can cash in on a shortage caused by the Asian country’s worst-ever outbreak of bird flu.
The two sides are negotiating over terms of potential shipments after South Korea lifted a ban on imports of US table eggs that it imposed when the US grappled with its own bout of bird flu last year, according to the US Department of Agriculture.
If an agreement is reached, US shipments could bring some relief to South Koreans who have faced soaring egg prices and rationing since the outbreak there began last month.
The egg shipments also would help US farmers cope with an oversupply that is depressing prices.
The opportunity to profit by filling South Korea’s shortfall with US eggs has sent brokers and traders into overdrive.
About 26 million birds, more than a quarter of South Korea’s poultry stock, have been culled to control the outbreak, and most of the birds have been egg-laying hens.
Strains of bird flu, which can be spread to poultry by wild birds, have been detected across Asia and in Europe in recent weeks. Two people in China and one person in Hong Kong have died in the outbreaks.
The US could reach agreement to open trade with South Korea as early as next week, said Mark Perigen, national supervisor for shell eggs for a division of the USDA.
“Everybody is working hard to get it done,” Perigen said in an interview on Friday, adding that USDA employees had worked during holiday vacations on the issue.
“They are desperate for eggs over there, and the government realizes that,” Perigen said.
Glenn Hickman, chief executive of Hickman’s Eggs in Arizona, has received calls from brokers searching for US eggs to ship to South Korea.
With no agreement yet between the two countries, Hickman is asking employees to take contact information for the potential customers.
United States Egg Marketers, a cooperative of farmers that was established to export eggs, has received “numerous inquiries about this already, including from people who have never exported anything in their lives,” said Eka Inall, the group’s president.
“Our phone is blowing up, our e-mail is blowing up,” she said.
Crackdown on illegal fishing
The Obama administration is issuing new rules it says will crack down on illegal fishing and seafood fraud by preventing unverifiable fish products from entering the US market.
The new protections are called the Seafood Import Monitoring Program, and they are designed to stop illegally fished and intentionally misidentified seafood from getting into stores and restaurants by way of imported fish.
The rules will require seafood importers to report information and maintain records about the harvest and chain of custody of fish, officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.
The program will start by focusing on “priority species” that are especially vulnerable to illegal fishing, such as popular food fish like tuna, swordfish, Atlantic cod and grouper. The government hopes eventually to broaden the program out to include all fish species, NOAA officials said.
“It sends an important message to the international seafood community that if you are open and transparent about the seafood you catch and sell across the supply chain, then the US markets are open for your business,” said Catherine Novelli, a State Department undersecretary.
The rules will help make sure that importers are able to supply “the who, what, why, when, how of fishing,” said Beth Lowell, a senior campaign director with Oceana.
The new rules are an outgrowth of a presidential task force established in June 2014 to crack down on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and seafood fraud. NOAA officials said the new requirements would allow regulators to trace seafood from its point of entry into the US to the point when it was harvested from the sea.
The National Marine Fisheries Service, an arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, will administer the program, NOAA officials said. The rules go on the books Jan. 9 and compliance from importers is expected by Jan. 1, 2018.
Shrimp and abalone are included in the plan, but implementation for those species will come later because of gaps in availability of information, NOAA officials said.
The two sides are negotiating over terms of potential shipments after South Korea lifted a ban on imports of US table eggs that it imposed when the US grappled with its own bout of bird flu last year, according to the US Department of Agriculture.
If an agreement is reached, US shipments could bring some relief to South Koreans who have faced soaring egg prices and rationing since the outbreak there began last month.
The egg shipments also would help US farmers cope with an oversupply that is depressing prices.
The opportunity to profit by filling South Korea’s shortfall with US eggs has sent brokers and traders into overdrive.
About 26 million birds, more than a quarter of South Korea’s poultry stock, have been culled to control the outbreak, and most of the birds have been egg-laying hens.
Strains of bird flu, which can be spread to poultry by wild birds, have been detected across Asia and in Europe in recent weeks. Two people in China and one person in Hong Kong have died in the outbreaks.
The US could reach agreement to open trade with South Korea as early as next week, said Mark Perigen, national supervisor for shell eggs for a division of the USDA.
“Everybody is working hard to get it done,” Perigen said in an interview on Friday, adding that USDA employees had worked during holiday vacations on the issue.
“They are desperate for eggs over there, and the government realizes that,” Perigen said.
Glenn Hickman, chief executive of Hickman’s Eggs in Arizona, has received calls from brokers searching for US eggs to ship to South Korea.
With no agreement yet between the two countries, Hickman is asking employees to take contact information for the potential customers.
United States Egg Marketers, a cooperative of farmers that was established to export eggs, has received “numerous inquiries about this already, including from people who have never exported anything in their lives,” said Eka Inall, the group’s president.
“Our phone is blowing up, our e-mail is blowing up,” she said.
Crackdown on illegal fishing
The Obama administration is issuing new rules it says will crack down on illegal fishing and seafood fraud by preventing unverifiable fish products from entering the US market.
The new protections are called the Seafood Import Monitoring Program, and they are designed to stop illegally fished and intentionally misidentified seafood from getting into stores and restaurants by way of imported fish.
The rules will require seafood importers to report information and maintain records about the harvest and chain of custody of fish, officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.
The program will start by focusing on “priority species” that are especially vulnerable to illegal fishing, such as popular food fish like tuna, swordfish, Atlantic cod and grouper. The government hopes eventually to broaden the program out to include all fish species, NOAA officials said.
“It sends an important message to the international seafood community that if you are open and transparent about the seafood you catch and sell across the supply chain, then the US markets are open for your business,” said Catherine Novelli, a State Department undersecretary.
The rules will help make sure that importers are able to supply “the who, what, why, when, how of fishing,” said Beth Lowell, a senior campaign director with Oceana.
The new rules are an outgrowth of a presidential task force established in June 2014 to crack down on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and seafood fraud. NOAA officials said the new requirements would allow regulators to trace seafood from its point of entry into the US to the point when it was harvested from the sea.
The National Marine Fisheries Service, an arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, will administer the program, NOAA officials said. The rules go on the books Jan. 9 and compliance from importers is expected by Jan. 1, 2018.
Shrimp and abalone are included in the plan, but implementation for those species will come later because of gaps in availability of information, NOAA officials said.
