US Poultry Industry Cheers WTO Flap with EU (WSJournal)

U.S. Poultry Industry Cheers WTO Flap With EU

By SCOTT KILMAN

The U.S. poultry industry patted the outgoing Bush administration on the back for escalating an 11-year-old trade dispute with the European Union over the way bird carcasses are washed.

The U.S. Trade Representative said Friday it filed a case with the World Trade Organization over the EU's long-standing ban on importing chicken meat that has been treated with chemicals such as chlorine dioxide to kill pathogens, which is a common practice in the U.S. industry.

"The EU has refused to listen to its own scientific advisors and has hidden behind bogus sanitary barriers with no scientific basis," said a statement released by the three major U.S. poultry groups, including USA Poultry & Egg Export Council.

It's far from clear how the outcome of any WTO case might impact U.S. chicken processors such as Tyson Foods Inc. and rival Pilgrim's Pride Corp., which is operating under bankruptcy protection.

The U.S. chicken industry is a far bigger exporter now than it was in 1997 when the EU began prohibiting the chemical treatments used in U.S. poultry processing plants. The U.S. chicken industry currently exports about 16% of its production to customers such as Russia and China.

One headache for U.S. poultry executives is the loss of foreign markets when nations join the EU.

The U.S. poultry industry has been battered in recent months by a price-depressing glut of chicken as well as gyrating prices of the crops that are fed to their birds.

Write to Scott Kilman at scott.kilman@wsj.com