USDA Delays GIPSA; KFC to Use Antibiotic Chickens
**U.S. beef trade could be one step closer to resuming with China.
According to the Financial Times, weekend trade talks resulted in China offering to resume imports of US beef and better market access for financial sector investments.
This is the second time in less than a year China has agreed to grant market access to US beef, but regulatory hurdles have remained in place that would prevent trade from materializing.
**The Department of Agriculture will delay implementation of a controversial rule in the meat and livestock sector and give the new administration more time to think it over.
According to the USDA, the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration will delay implementation of the GIPSA rule for 180 days.
That would bump the effective date, originally set at April 22nd, back to October 19th.
The rule, finalized by the Obama administration in December, was intended to level the playing field between contract growers and the companies they work with.
**On a path to more finger licking goodness, Kentucky Fried Chicken says, by the end of 2018, all of its U.S. chicken purchases will be broilers raised without antibiotics. A release on KFC’s website says it’s the first U.S. fast food chain to extend an antibiotics commitment to its bone-in chicken.
KFC says it’s worked with 2,000 U.S. poultry farms to make the change. The company calls it “Re-Colonelization,” which KFC says is its mission to return to Colonel Sanders’ standards.