The U.S. Department of Agriculture is moving to allow imports of Chinese poultry in a sign of progress in ongoing trade talks between Washington and Beijing.

An unpublished USDA regulation allowing the shipments was posted on the Federal Register website and is scheduled to be published Friday. The new permission covers birds as well as poultry parts and products slaughtered in certified Chinese facilities, the document shows.

A compromise over poultry has been one of the areas of advanced discussions between the nations as they inch toward a partial trade deal. Last month, China said it was prepared to lift a ban on U.S. shipments that’s been in place since 2015 as part of a “Phase One” agreement. Earlier Thursday, Xinhua reported China’s General Administration of Customs and Ministry of Agriculture are studying the removal of curbs on American supplies.

China has had a goal of shipping cooked chicken to the U.S. that dates back to at least 2004. The country is currently allowed to send poultry to the U.S. that is slaughtered in America or certain other countries, but the new regulation would allow for processed products made from birds slaughtered in the Asian country.

Meanwhile, if Beijing were to lift its ban on American poultry, it could be a major win for U.S. farmers and meat processors. China prohibited U.S. poultry in 2015 due to an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza. Nearly all other nationwide bans following the outbreak have been lifted.

The negotiations over poultry come at a time when African swine fever is destroying the hog herd in China, the world’s biggest pork consumer. The Asian nation has quickly ramped up its meat imports to help meet a protein-supply gap. Chicken is the cheapest substitute for pork.