John Ciorciari was quoted in a New York Times article on the potential for a pending catfish inspection program to complicate a major trade agreement between the U.S. and 11 Pacific nations, known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The proposed Department of Agriculture based catfish inspection program would replace and cost far more than an existing program at the Food and Drug Administration. Government officials in Vietnam, one of the nations in the trade pact where catfish is a vital industry, say the program is a trade barrier in disguise.
Ciorciari is one of the trade experts cited in the article on the impact the catfish program could have on the trade deal. While not arguing that catfish could derail the deal completely, he stated "it's going to be hard for the U.S. to get any kind of trade concessions while it has a program like this."
Catfish inspection program could impact ability for U.S. to get trade concessions, says Ciorciari
November 13, 2013