Singapore: USDA Acting U/S Lambert Discusses U.S.

UNCLAS SINGAPORE 000649 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS USDA FAS FOR CMP/DLP, ITP/AAD USDA FOR ACTING UNDER SECRETARY LAMBERT, APHIS/IS, FSIS MANILA FOR APHIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAGR ETRD ECON SENV SN SUBJECT: Singapore: USDA Acting U/S Lambert Discusses U.S. Beef ¶1. (SBU) In a March 1 meeting, USDA Acting Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Dr. Charles Lambert thanked Singapore officials for reopening the country's market to U.S. beef. He also thanked them for their discretion in the handling of problems in the recent first shipment. (Background: Upon the shipment's arrival, GOS inspectors had identified certain quality defects unrelated to food safety. The GOS had destroyed the substandard beef and allowed the remainder of the shipment to enter the market.) U/S Lambert told Minister of State for National Development HENG Chee How that the United States intended to fully abide by the terms of our current agreement that limits U.S. exports to only boneless cuts of meat. Noting that the safety of this shipment of beef was not in question, he assured Minister of State Heng that USDA and industry representatives were working closely with the originating packing plant and other meat processors to avoid, to the maximum extent possible, such problems in the future. ¶2. (U) Minister of State Heng said that he welcomed USDA's commitment to ensuring U.S. beef met Singapore's requirements. He commented that the export agreement was a win-win situation since Singapore was committed to diversifying its food supply. He emphasized that Singapore would continue to apply a science-based approach in evaluating food safety. ¶3. (U) U/S Lambert expressed his hope that our export agreement would soon include bone-in product and offals, in line with World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) guidelines and sound science. He said that we were prepared to present a formal proposal in this regard. Minister of State Heng said that Singapore was ready to work with USDA and that discussions could take place in parallel to the current market opening. ¶4. U/S Lambert cleared this message. HERBOLD