The USDA and the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office continue to work on getting nations to lift bans or restrictions on U.S. pork, according to Tom Vilsack, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. Wednesday at the Iowa State Fair, Secretary Vilsack said they’re making progress.
“We did have 38 countries that were banning our pork, we’ve got it down to just a handful,” said Secretary Vilsack, in comments provided by the USDA.
AUDIO: Tom Vilsack (1 min. MP3)
“It’s frustrating work,” said Vilsack, “because people sometimes don’t play by the rules or don’t follow science based decision making.”
Vilsack says the USDA and the USTR will continue to press that issue and to increase export sales in general.
“The trip to Africa was, in part, for that as well as global food security,” he said. “The trip that I’ll make to Asia will certainly be for that.”
Vilsack continues the administration’s Rural Tour Friday in Sedalia, Missouri at State Fair Community College. That public program begins at 11:00 a.m.
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