China bans import and export of ractopamine

Pork and pork products must be derived from lots of hogs that have negative test results for ractopamine.

China intends to require U.S. exporters to show that a third party has independently confirmed that no ractopamine residue is present in meat, according to USMEF.

As fixing a MRL is considered as setting a threshold under which the use the product is considered as safe, the new standard fixed by the Codex can be considered de facto as an authorisation of using ractopamine below the fixed MRL in food producing animals.

The Commission set the limits for the amount of ractopamine allowed in the tissues of pigs and cattle at 10 micrograms per kilogram of pig or cattle muscle, 40 micrograms per kilogram in liver and 90 micrograms per kilogram of the animals' kidneys.

Following vote at the Codex Alimentarius, the European Union reaffirms its position that an international standard for ractopamine is not justified.