China's Requirements for U.S. Beef Imports and Ethanol Flexibility
From the Ag Information Network, I'm Bob Larson with your Agribusiness Update.
**US Meat Export Federation Asia Director Joel Haggard says U.S. beef export opportunities to China are hard to determine until we know more about what protocols they will require of U.S. ranchers and exporters.
China says it's willing to resume importing U.S. beef after a 13-year ban following the 2003 discovery of a single case of BSE in Washington State.
**A Senate committee's approval of a regulatory reform bill has set the stage for a classic Capitol Hill battle.
On one side is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, along with business associations and large farm groups, claiming the Regulatory Accountability Act would apply to only a fraction of the thousands of regulations issued annually.
On the other are groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council and Center for Science in the Public Interest, arguing the RAA is too broad and would make it nearly impossible to implement food safety and other public health laws.
**With questions swirling about whether the Trump administration will be more flexible on certain ethanol regulations than its predecessors, some are hoping for an end-around to fix the matter on Capitol Hill.
Ethanol groups are pushing EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to issue a waiver that would allow for the sale of fuel blended with up to 15 percent ethanol through September 15.
A previous interpretation of the Clean Air Act is blocking such a waiver, but Pruitt hopes a "statutory analysis" is concluded very soon.
