Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman and Li Changjiang, China’s Minister for the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, agreed to establish a consultative mechanism on food safety and animal and plant health issues.

The signing came after three days of high-level talks between U.S. and Chinese officials in Washington this week with the meeting of the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade where the two nations discussed a wide range of economic and trade issues.

"China is an increasingly important market for U.S. food and agricultural products," said Agricultural Secretary Ann M. Veneman. "The value of agricultural exports to China have nearly tripled in the past two years. China now takes nearly ten percent of total U.S. food and agricultural exports."

The agreement is the first step in a process that will strengthen technical cooperation and exchanges in the fields of food safety and animal and plant health. The United States and China will exchange information on laws and regulations and identify issues of mutual interest and work to address them. There will also be personnel exchanges at the technical level, seminars and training, and cooperative research on common problems.