The Ministry of Industry and Commerce has announced that the United States has lifted its ban on meat imports from the Dominican Republic, in place since 2001. Manuel Garcia Arevalo said that the start up of meat exports is the result of compliance with quality and sanitary standards demanded by the United States Department of Agriculture. The export of Dominican meat began in the early 1980s and by 1998 the country was shipping millions of pounds to the United States. According to Listin Diario, the problems started when the local laboratories became sloppy and the Department of Agriculture in the United States began to demand a federal export license.