Washington - China has agreed to end its ban on US pork products, which has been in place since the swine flu outbreak began earlier this year, US officials said Thursday. The World Health Organization has said the swine flu virus, known scientifically as H1N1 influenza, cannot be contracted by eating meat. But China was one of a number of countries that restricted pork imports from the United States and Mexico, where the swine flu epidemic originated in the spring.
"China's intent to remove its H1N1-related ban on US pork marks an important step forward in cooperation between the countries on agriculture issues," said US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who was in China this week along with other top US trade officials.
China is the US pork industry's fastest growing foreign market. The US exported 560 million dollars-worth of pork to the Asian power in 2008.
