It was 12 years ago when the European Union placed restrictions on the imports of U.S. poultry. Now, the Office of the United States Trade Representative has stepped up and announced it has asked the World Trade Organization to establish a dispute settlement panel to help resolve the issue. The U.S. asked the panel to review whether the EU's ban on importing and marketing poultry meat and poultry meat products processed with pathogen reduction treatments is consistent with the EU's WTO obligations.
U.S. Trade Representative Spokeswoman Nefeterius McPherson says U.S. poultry subject to the EU ban is safe and that there is no scientific evidence that the use of pathogen reduction treatments pose any health risk to consumers.
The issue will be investigated by the WTO dispute settlement panel when it meets October 23. That's when the same panel will consider Canada's claims regarding country of origin labeling required by the 2008 U.S. Farm Bill for certain agricultural products.
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