As of Friday China is officially accepting shipments of U.S. pork. Pork produced on or after May 1 can now be exported to the country. The U.S. and China agreed to reopen the Chinese market to U.S. imports in March after China closed its market to U.S. pork in April 2009 following the mislabeling of H1N1. National Pork Producers Council President Sam Carney says this is tremendous news for U.S. pork producers since China is one of our nation's biggest markets. Carney says being able to ship pork there is extremely important to the U.S. pork industry.

In 2008 China was the number three destination for U.S. pork with our nation's pork industry exporting nearly $690 million worth of pork. Pork exports were down to under $427 million last year.

NPPC continues urging the Obama administration to press China to address other trade-related issues limiting U.S. pork imports, including China's ban on U.S. pork produced with ractopamine, a feed ingredient that improves efficiency in production.