Chefs in China Anxious for Return of U.S. Beef, Pork

“Your Restaurant – Your Investment” was the theme for USMEF’s recent semiannual U.S. red meat training session in Shanghai. The training session is one of the major activities associated with the USMEF-sponsored “Cookism Club” – an active group of chefs and restaurant operators from throughout China. 

Attendance was strong at the December meeting of USMEF’s “Cookism Club” in Shanghai

Participants at the meeting offered testimonials on how U.S. meat can be used to bolster restaurant activity and profits.   One chef, Tony Guo of the Super Steak restaurant chain, was presented with an award from USMEF for his invention of an oven smoker that can be used to roast whole subprimals of beef and pork. His design has been adopted by more than 200 restaurants in China. 

“My inspiration came from the slow-roasting concepts I saw during a USMEF tour in Texas,” Guo said as he accepted the award. 

Club members come from a wide range of foodservice establishments including steakhouses, hotel restaurants, hot pot, Yakiniku (Korean barbecue), traditional Chinese and quick service restaurants. Ten new members joined in 2009 and the Shanghai event attracted 44 chefs, 31 restaurant owner-operators and nine guest training chefs from more than 20 cities in the region.

“With China’s consumer spending on the upswing and its economy rebounding quickly, restaurant operators are searching for new concepts that can generate traffic, improve revenue and offer novel but delicious food,” said Steve Mo, USMEF southern China representative. “Shanghaiis a very competitive and dynamic foodservice market and this training session introduced them to a number of innovative cooking concepts.” 

Several member chefs commented that they eagerly await the reopening of China to U.S. beef, which has not been directly exported to China — excepting Hong Kong — since December 2003. They are also hopeful that access for U.S. pork, banned since mid-2009 due to concerns about H1N1 influenza, also will be restored soon.

Pork Imports Now Subject to China’s ARF System

New requirements could hinder product flow

China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) has adopted new meat import regulations that may complicate the flow of imported pork products into China.

Effective Jan. 1, 2010, MOFCOM added pork and pork variety meat as items that are subject to its "automatic registration form" (ARF) system. The ARF system for pork and pork variety meat was drafted in late 2009 and announced toward the end of the year. Many traders, however, were unaware of the new regulations until the first week of January. Under this new procedure, importers must register purchases with MOFCOM. In addition, importers still must obtain a quarantine import permit from the General Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ). According to USMEF intelligence, the new system is already being implemented for shipments of pork – mostly from Europe – that have arrived in ports since the beginning of the year.  

ARF applications are submitted by registered importers every six months. Although MOFCOM does not publish details of the program, it is believed that import levels are allocated based on the recent historical import performance of the applying company. These allocations are made semi-annually at the provincial level. MOFCOM has stated that while pork and pork variety meat are now subject to ARF, there is currently no maximum or target import level or quota.  

U.S. poultry products have been subject to the ARF licensing system for nearly 10 years. While MOFCOM does not publish a list of approved importers, it has been necessary for poultry importers to be members of China's Chamber of Commerce of Import/Export of Foodstuffs, Native Produce and Animal By-Products in order to participate in the ARF system.