On Thu, 1 Aug 2013 11:22:01 -0700 (PDT), Roy >
wrote:

>On Wednesday, July 31, 2013 2:40:35 PM UTC-6, Sqwertz wrote:
>> On Wed, 31 Jul 2013 13:41:21 +0200, ViLco wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> > http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...n_3187462.html
>>
>> >
>>
>>[...]
>>
>>
>>
>> -sw
>
>The reason for the original bans was because of the possibility
>of importing bad hog disease pathogens because much of Italian
>curing did not cook the meat properly and there was a danger in
>allowing the dry cured hams into North America.
>
>If our pigs were to be infected it could wipe out our hog
>populations. This would be disastrous.
>
>===

The USDA tends to pay a whole lot more attention to the business
interests of big American producers than it does to food safety. So
it is possible that the political stars have shifted a bit given the
increased demand for high quality cured products and the increased
interest by American producers in exporting their products. The USDA
is a handy means to introduce a competition reducing tarritt under a
benign "safety" name. Once there is a competing interest by
exporters who are faced with reciprocal attitudes, we always seem to
be able to find a way to discover that it is really OK now.