IT was a week when Scotland toasted record global whisky exports, and Hillary Clinton joined in the St Andrew's Day celebrations by sending a special message to Scots the world over.
But, despite the US Secretary of State's praise for the special ties between the nations and Scotland's "unique culture and traditions", that goodwill does not extend to our national dish, which has been banned for four decades in America.
And while ex-pats can raise a glass of proper Scotch come Burns Night, they have been unable to address a traditional Scots haggis, made from a sheep's heart, liver and lungs, due to an import ban.
Now, with Holyrood's equivalent of the foreign secretary also in Washington DC, the Scottish Government has decided there is no better time to take the first step on the road to opening the US market to haggis, beef, lamb and venison exports.
Haggis was first banned in the 1970s, caught up in a general US bar on the sale of all products, domestic or imported, which contained livestock lungs. This ban, which remains in place on public health grounds, is strongly disputed on this side of the Atlantic.
A decade later, the spectre of BSE arrived and, amid the headlines about mad cow disease, the US banned the import of red meat from the UK, extending that ban to the rest of the EU in the 1990s.
An application has now been forwarded by the UK's Chief Veterinary Officer to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), outlining the case for importing quality Scottish red meat and red meat products into the United States.
Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead said: "Exports to the US are of key importance to our food and drink sector and this is a positive step forward.
"Although there is a long way to go in the process, we remain proactive in encouraging the USDA to lift the long-standing ban on importation of red meat and red meat products, including haggis, from Scotland and the rest of the EU."
The move comes as Culture and External Affairs Secretary Fiona Hyslop is on a visit to the US. She tweeted yesterday: "Strong interest in Scotland at St Andrew's Day do in Washington. Hundreds there."
Jo Macsween, director of Macsween, one of Scotland's leading haggis makers, said: "I am delighted to hear progress is being made in this respect and we look forward to the prospect of sharing Macsween haggis with American consumers in the near future."
She added that a recent feature by Scots chat show host Craig Ferguson in the US had resulted in a boost for Macsween's vegetarian haggis, which guests dubbed "awesome", but they hoped to get a chance to sell the real thing.
Jim McLaren, chairman of Quality Meat Scotland, said: "With the huge popularity in the US of all things Scottish, hopefully these negotiations will one day give American consumers the chance to finally taste authentic, high-quality Scotch beef and lamb."
The next stage will be for the USDA to consider the application. Meanwhile, the European Commission will continue its own lobbying efforts to achieve a relaxation of import controls.
A Government spokeswoman said that substitute haggis products were available in the US but added: "Their use at Burns Suppers is largely symbolic because they are not a patch on authentic Scottish haggis."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article