China has banned meat exports from a West Coast cold storage facility near the Port of Oakland after traces of the feed additive ractopamine were found in beef shipments, creating disruption at an important trade gateway to Asia.
The country suspended exports out of Cool Port Oakland on May 27, Agriculture Department records show. The ban occurred the same day China also restricted shipments from a JBS plant in Greeley, Colorado.
A spokesperson for the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said in a statement to Mekong Farmer that the restrictions were placed after China’s customs detected the feed additive ractopamine, which is banned in more than 150 countries, within shipments of frozen beef products from both facilities. The agency is conducting an investigation.
The ban on Cool Port Oakland has disrupted operations for meat exporters as far away as the Midwest who depend on the facility to transfer their freight from rail to ocean before it ships out of Oakland’s port to the final destination in Asia.
“China’s suspension of this cold storage facility has caused disruption for beef, pork and poultry exports,” Joe Schuele of the U.S. Meat Export Federation said in an email to Mekong Farmer. “Exporters must now utilize other facilities in the Bay Area.”
Schuele said the suspension has also created uncertainty about how shipments already en route to China will be handled. “U.S. companies have had to adjust their shipping plans accordingly,” he said.
Around 44% of U.S. beef exports and 21% of pork exports moved through the Port of Oakland in the first quarter, Schuele said. The Port of Oakland is often the last U.S. port of call for container ships before they set sail for Asia, allowing refrigerated cargo to arrive fresher to overseas markets.
The 280,000-square-foot storage facility, owned by California-based logistics companies Lineage Logistics and Dreisbach Enterprises, opened in 2018 to capitalize on growing meat trade with Asia. The storage depot has significantly expanded the Port of Oakland’s ability to handle chilled and frozen goods, and the port was able to grow its share of U.S. reefer shipments last year as competitors lost ground.
Lineage Logistics and Dreisbach Enterprises did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for the Port of Oakland referred questions to the logistics companies, but said the port was “watching the situation closely.”
Ractopamine is banned in at least 160 countries, including China and the European Union, over concerns that the growth hormone harms animal welfare and presents cardiovascular risks to humans. Earlier this year, a group of environmental and animal rights groups sued the Food and Drug Administration as it ramps up a legal fight to push the agency to restrict or ban ractopamine use in the U.S.