* USDA to soon begin review of China poultry
* China to soon make formal announcement to end US pork ban
* End to China pork ban unrelated to end of US poultry ban
* More work required to end China ban on US beef
* US to soon "put something on the table" for China on beef (Adds additional details from interview)
By Roberta Rampton
WASHINGTON, Oct 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. Agriculture Department will soon begin a review of China's food safety laws and poultry plants with an eye to allowing imports of Chinese poultry products, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told Reuters on Thursday.
Vilsack signed a letter to U.S. Congress during trade talks in Hangzhou, China to formally begin the review process.
"Our goal and our intent is to do this as expeditiously as possible with cooperation from China," Vilsack said in a telephone interview from Hangzhou.
Congress recently lifted a ban on imports of poultry from China, which has been one of several agricultural trade irritants between the two trading superpowers. [ID:nN25508971]
China is a top buyer of U.S.-grown meat, chicken, soybeans and other products. [ID:nPEK8692]
During the meeting, China agreed to lift its ban on U.S. pork, which accounted for $560 million in trade in 2008. [ID:nN29351273]
Vilsack said Chinese Agriculture Minister Sun Zhengcai said China would make a formal announcement about the end of pork ban "very soon."
"He didn't put a specific timeline on it, but as you know President Obama is coming to China in a couple of weeks, and I don't know whether that is part of their calculation or not," Vilsack said.
"We're going to work through whatever details remain to try to get this done as expeditiously as possible," he said, adding he did not know what technical requirements China would have for trade to resume.
China's willingness to lift its pork ban was not related to the recent move by Congress to end its ban on imports of Chinese poultry products, Vilsack said.
"I asked Minister Sun that specific question, and he was very emphatic in indicating that there's no connection," he said.
Vilsack said officials did not discuss China's recent anti-dumping investigation into U.S. chicken exports. [ID:nPEK218176]
But he said he had a brief discussion on beef trade with his counterpart. China has banned U.S. beef imports since the United States found its first case of mad cow disease in 2003.
"I think there's still work to be done" on the beef issue, Vilsack said, noting talks focused on pork and poultry trade.
"I think we have to be creative. I think we have to put something on the table (on beef trade) for the Chinese to respond to, and we intend to do that very quickly," he said.
Vilsack said he had established "a good personal chemistry" with Sun during the talks.
"We're going to try to build on the momentum that was created during this meeting" to focus on other outstanding farm trade issues, he said. (Editing by John Picinich)