By TIM ALEXANDER
Illinois Correspondent

ROSEVILLE, Ill. — The USA Poultry & Egg Export Council (USAPEEC) is lauding the Bloomington-based Illinois Soybean Assoc. (ISA) for its role in helping lift weight restrictions on poultry exports to the country of Jordan.

The statewide organization for soybean producers drew on their long-standing alliance with USAPEEC to create an educational campaign to inform Jordan’s government officials and major importers that package weight and size restrictions imposed by the country on poultry products in May were disadvantageous.
Jordanian officials agreed to discontinue the restrictions, which had placed a limit on an imported bag or carton of poultry products at a maximum of 2.5 kg.

The restrictions had flown in the face of a Federal Trade Agreement signed by the U.S. and Jordan, which had allowed packaged imports of up to 15 kg – the standard size of a U.S. carton of poultry leg quarters.

“Thanks to the (ISA), we started inviting officials of the (Jordanian) Permit Department to our seminars on U.S. poultry, and mobilizing the trade to have a unified stand against the restrictive decision,” said Simon Bakht, Middle East representative for USAPEEC, in a news release. “It seems Illinois Soybean is our lucky star. We just turned the tables in Jordan under the (ISA)-funded poultry promotion program.”

Under the FTA with Jordan, U.S. poultry had enjoyed a zero tariff rate on their exports to the country, explained Ron Moore, ISA board chairman and a soybean producer from Roseville.

“That was a huge advantage to the poultry industry of the U.S., which in turn was an advantage to soybean producers because soybean meal is a main ingredient in poultry feed,” Moore told Farm World. “Anything that increases demand or reduces trade barriers for poultry products is a good thing for the soybean producer, and in Illinois we have major soybean processing plants with companies such as ADM and Cargill.”

While taking a break from harvesting soybeans on his farmland in west-central Illinois, Moore spoke of the ISA’s alliance with USAPEEC and their role in convincing Jordan’s Permit Department to relax poultry import package weight restrictions. “We’ve been working with USAPEEC for several years funding projects that will benefit increased demand for soybeans from the U.S. As part of our partnership, we informed Jordan’s government officials of the advantages they would see by (eliminating) the weight restrictions,” he said.

“It’s hard to determine exactly why they imposed the weight restrictions, but there is speculation that there was a segment that wanted to (greatly hamper) U.S. imports of poultry products. Once we got to meet and hold seminars with their government officials and importers, it became clear to them that there were disadvantages to the weight restrictions.”

Apparently, the ISA/USAPEEC presentation to Jordanian officials and importers served its purpose well. Immediately following a U.S. poultry seminar held at the Royal Hotel in Amman, Jordan on Sept. 28, Permit Department Chief Dr. Falah Ibrahim Salah announced the restrictions would be lifted.

“Now imports are back to normal,” said Bakht. “The decision was signed by Dr. Salah.”