WASHINGTON — June 23, 2014 — Ten Asian and Pacific nations have told the Office of the United States Trade Representative that the Agriculture Department’s catfish inspection program violates international law, and their objections could hamper Obama administration efforts to reach a major Pacific trade agreement by the end of next year. They say that the inspection program is a trade barrier erected under the guise of a food safety measure and that it violates the United States’ obligations under World Trade Organization agreements. Among the countries protesting are Vietnam and Malaysia, which are taking part in talks for the trade agreement — known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership — and have the ability to derail or hold up those negotiations.
The complaints are outlined in a May 28 letter signed by diplomats from the 10 countries. The letter does not threaten retaliation, but it emphasizes that the American catfish program stood in the way of the trade talks.
Vietnam, a major catfish producer, has long complained about the program, but it has never before won international support for its fight. Several of the countries whose representatives signed the letter — including the Philippines, Myanmar, Thailand and Indonesia — do not have catfish industries to protect and are not involved in the trans-Pacific trade talks.
But the letter expresses the concern that the inspection program could lead the Agriculture Department to expand its ability to regulate seafood exports to the United States, catfish or not.
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