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Washington (AFP) March 18, 2010 The United States and China agreed Thursday to reopen the Chinese market to American pork after imports were halted last year during a swine flu scare, US officials said. US Trade Representative Ron Kirk and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack made the announcement a day after indicating Russia would also reopen its market. "This agreement is a win for America's pork producers, whose safe and high-quality exports can now flow freely into China and support agriculture jobs here at home," Kirk said in a statement. "I am also pleased that China affirmed in our meetings that they will base their decisions on international science-based guidelines. We look forward to working cooperatively to resolve additional issues, including a resumption of trade in beef." Twenty percent of US pork production was exported in 2009, US officials say. Prior to the H1N1 flu that limited trade, US pork and pork variety meats exports to China were valued at nearly 275 million dollars in 2008. China was the seventh largest market, accounting for six percent of US pork and pork variety meat exports. In October 2009, Vilsack, Kirk and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke participated in the meeting of the US-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) in Hangzhou, China, where China agreed to remove its ban on pork products. Since then, the United States and China have worked to implement the commitment. US officials say that despite fears of the A(H1N1) virus, or swine flu, humans have no risk of infection from consuming properly prepared pork and pork products.
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