US Ag Exporters Seeing Success Sending 'Commitment Statements' for Shipments to China

U.S. agricultural exporters to China are choosing to send their own “commitment statements” instead of signing a China-provided customs form that requires the U.S. shipper to guarantee the goods are free of COVID-19 contamination (see 2006230012), the Agriculture Transportation Coalition said June 26. AgTC said exporters have not faced many issues by submitting their own statements. AgTC is providing its members with three examples of commitment statements that can be sent along with shipments. “While China Customs has not confirmed that these statements are acceptable as substitutes for the official form, we are hearing that exporters sending these statements have not encountered any issues so far with their customers clearing cargo in China,” AgTC emailed its members.