US Dept. of Agriculture gave green light to four chicken processing plants in China, allowing chicken raised and slaughtered in US to be exported to China for processing, then shipped back ot the US and sold on grocery shelves. China's health and safety policies are very different than ours. In the past year alone China has made news for passing off rat meat as mutton, selling sausages filled with maggots, inexplicably finding thousands of dead pigs floating in the waters of Shanghai, and even having an outbreak of the H7N9 bird flu in live poultry; not to mention the imports of tainted toothpaste, dog food, baby formula, vitamins, children's jewelry and Chinese drywall, to name but a few. A report just this month from the US Government Accountability Office found that the USDA's domestic poultry inspections have a lot of problems, as they are in the process of replacing certified USDA inspectors with those provided by the poultry companies themselves. Nothing like the fox guarding the chicken coop. In addition to the concerns that this decision could open the door for even more unsafe practices, no country-of-origin labels are required under the new rules, so consumers won't know where their bird is coming from. Plus, industry insiders warn that the move is politically motivated by a desire to get China to re-allow lucrative US beef imports and will likely lead to allowing imports of Chinese chickens, a practice that's been banned since bird flu and other food safety concerns first surfaced. We are deeply troubled by this policy on the part of the US to have any food sent or received from China for human consumption. China's blatant disregard for human life and safety is well known around the world. Therefore, we respectfully request that the practice of having our food sent to China for processing be discontinued immediately. We also request that all products that can be used for human consumption be permanently banned from entering the US from China.

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