The two Agriculture Department Food Safety and Inspection Service officials who were scheduled to travel to China last week to discuss Chinese handling of U.S. chicken to be re-exported to the United States did not make that trip, an FSIS official said today.

“Our officials had to cancel this trip due to scheduling conflict,” an FSIS spokeswoman said.

The Chinese government has urged the United States to allow China to import U.S. poultry for processing and to allow processed poultry to be re-exported to the United States, but Rep. Rosa De Lauro, D-Conn., and consumer groups have raised questions about the proposal, citing food safety concerns.