measures on catfish in october 2009 china raised concerns about the us federal meat inspection act which potentially could have a significant impact on the international trade of catfish. according to the act regulatory responsibility for catfish was shifted from the food and drug administration fda to the us department of agriculture usda . usda was mandated to draft a series of rules concerning the production and inspection requirements for catfish before the beginning of 2010 countries wanting to export or to continue exporting catfish to the united states were required to have their inspection system recognized by the usda as equivalent to the us system. china had serious concerns about the possible negative impact this change of the regulatory system could have on the current catfish trade. china requested an explanation of the sudden change of the regulatory system and whether any sps risk factors had triggered the decision. china also questioned whether the us policy would remain consistent in order to avoid any adverse effect to the existing trade of catfish and whether the existing trade between china and the united states would be taken into consideration when developing the new regulatory system. the united states stated that the food conservation and energy act of 2008 signed into law on 18 june 2008 amended the federal meat inspection act and required usdas food safety inspection service fsis to establish a new federal programme for the production and inspection of catfish. in preparation of the anticipated changes to the federal regulations usda had visited and communicated with many members to alert them to the new law. members were encouraged to participate in the rule-making process once it was announced and notified via the wto and to identify any potential concerns with the proposed regulation as soon as possible. in october 2012 china recalled that in march 2011 the united states notified a requirement for mandatory inspection of catfish and catfish products which included catfish regulation with that of terrestrial animal meat products. aquatic animal products presented lower risks than terrestrial animal products and china sought an explanation and risk assessment from the united states. moreover china hoped that if the regulation were to be implemented the united states would respect the traditional transitional period of 5 years considering chinas developing country status. the united states recalled that the food conservation and energy act of 2008 mandated that catfish be regulated under the federal meat inspection act. a proposed rule for the inspection of catfish was notified to the wto and comments accepted until 24 june 2011. the us department of agriculture was still reviewing the comments and would notify the adoption of the final rules for inspection of catfish before implementation. the united states would make every effort to minimize disruptions to trade once the catfish inspection program began. in october 2014 china recalled that in march 2011 the united states had notified its regulations for mandatory inspection of catfish and catfish products intending to transfer the regulatory responsibility from the food and drug administration fda to the us department of agriculture usda . in 2014 usda had been mandated to draft rules concerning the requirements for inspection of catfish and catfish products which had included catfish regulation with that of terrestrial animal meat products. the biological characteristics farming processing and inspection of catfish products however were different from that of terrestrial animal meat products. the oie had established terrestrial and aquatic animal health codes respectively and there was no evidence that catfish products had higher food safety risks than other aquatic products. china raised its concern that usdas inspection programme imposed additional costs on foreign catfish producers by requiring equivalence programmes. china