WASHINGTON — As of May 27, China has ceased accepting exports from the Swift Beef Co. facility in Greeley, Colo., a subsidiary of JBS USA, according to the US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).

“The JBS Greeley beef production facility has been temporarily suspended from exporting to China because traces of ractopamine were identified in beef destined for China,” a JBS spokesperson told MEAT+POULTRY. “We are working diligently with US and Chinese authorities to resolve the situation as soon as possible. No other US JBS beef facilities have been impacted.”

Ractopamine is a feed additive often used to develop leanness and increase animal weights. While acceptable in the United States, ractopamine is banned in at least 160 countries, including China, the European Union, Russia, Canada and Taiwan.

On May 27, China also banned meat exports from the Cool Port of Oakland, a cold storage facility by Lineage Logistics and Dreisbach Enterprises in Oakland, Calif.

While China has banned these facilities from exporting meat products into its country, the nation has opened access to several Australian meat processors recently.

Five out of seven Australian meat export processors that were suspended in 2020 due to technical reasons were reinstated for export approval, according to the Australian Meat Industry Council (AMIC).

The group celebrated the regained access and said it will continue to work to end the suspension for the other two facilities.

“As a matter of priority, we will continue working with the federal government and China on not only having the remaining two exporters’ suspensions lifted, but also restarting the new opportunities for other Australian red meat businesses who have been waiting for access to the Chinese Market,” AMIC said.