Talks on restarting U.S. beef exports to China are moving fast and final details should be in place by early June, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Friday, allowing American farmers to vie for business that has been lost by rival Brazil.

The information is in a Reuters News Service article by Tom Polansek. The article was posted by CattleNetwork’s online newsletter, “Drovers,” and re-posted by Colorado Livestock Association Friday morning.

According to the article, the USDA predicts U.S. ranchers will face tests over the use of growth-promoting drugs to raise cattle destined for export to China and to log the animals’ movements.

The two sides are negotiating to meet a deadline, set under a broader trade deal last week, for shipments to begin by mid-July.

Finalizing technical details in early June should mean beef companies such as Tyson Foods Inc and Cargill Inc can sign contracts with Chinese buyers to meet the deadline, the USDA said.

China banned U.S. beef in 2003 after a U.S. scare over mad cow disease. Previous attempts by Washington to reopen the world’s fastest-growing beef market have fizzled out. But now, the quick progress of the latest talks is raising hopes of U.S. farmers.

“Both sides feel the urgency to get it done by the deadline,” said Joe Schuele, spokesman for the U.S. Meat Export Federation, which represents Tyson, Cargill and other meat companies.

China’s embassy in Washington could not immediately be reached for comment.

The timing of the new deal allows U.S. producers to benefit as Brazil, the world’s top beef exporter, is struggling with scandals and rival shipper Australia is suffering from a drought that is hurting production, analysts said.

China accounted for nearly one-third of the Brazilian meat packing industry’s $13.9 billion in exports last year.

But in March, Beijing briefly banned Brazilian imports after Brazilian police accused inspectors of taking bribes to allow sales of rotten and salmonella-tainted meat.

JBS SA, the world’s largest meatpacker, was involved in the probe and in separate allegations this week that Brazil’s president conspired to obstruct justice with the company’s chairman.

The food-safety probe hit Brazil’s beef exports, which fell by 24.6 percent to $378 million in April from March, according to Abiec, an industry group that represents meat processors accounting for about 90 percent of Brazil’s exports.

Chinese appetite for beef has climbed due to its expanding middle class. In 2003, its imports totaled just $15 million, or 12,000 tons, including $10 million from the United States, according to the USDA.

The Reuters report said that, to reopen U.S. trade, Beijing has accepted a U.S. proposal in principle that would require producers to document the locations where cattle raised for beef exported to China are born and slaughtered, the USDA said. The system would be less onerous than tracking cattle throughout their entire lives, during which they can be kept at up to four different locations.