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China resorts to WTO on US poultry import ban

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-06-24 20:59

BEIJING: China hopes the United States can give importance to China's strong concern over a poultry import ban dispute and resolve it by World Trade Organization (WTO) procedures, Ministry of Commerce spokesman Yao Jian said in a statement Wednesday.

Related readings:  US ban on China poultry imports slammed  China files WTO complaints over US poultry ban  MOC: US poultry ban to affect trade policies  China urges US to lift poultry trade ban  China blasts US ban on its poultry

The US measure banning poultry imports from China violated WTO rules, Yao said. "The measure is obviously discriminatory," disrupted the normal poultry meat trade between China and the United States and harmed the due interests of the Chinese poultry industry.

Under Section 727 of the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009, which was signed into US law in March, none of the funds made available in the Omnibus Appropriations Act can be used to "establish or implement a rule" allowing imports of poultry products from China.

China wrote Tuesday to the chairman of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body through the Permanent Mission of China to the WTO, requiring it to set up an expert panel to investigate the US import ban on Chinese poultry, Yao said.