Imports

NMPF Calls on USDA to Finally Implement Promotion Assessment on Dairy Imports: August 11, 2009

NMPF called on the USDA to finally implement the long-delayed promotion checkoff on dairy imports, seven years after the measure was first passed into law.

The USDA issued a Proposed Rule in May 2009, and invited public comment on the measure, which was first written into law in the 2002 Farm Bill, and was later affirmed in the 2008 Farm Bill. But a year after the most recent Farm Bill was approved, the import assessment was still languishing. Some called for a farmer referendum on the entire promotion checkoff in order to justify the assessment on imports.

“The history of efforts to implement the assessment is filled with denial, disinformation, and delay,” said Jerry Kozak, President and CEO of NMPF. “All we have ever wanted is to have importers of foreign products pay to help promote the U.S. dairy market from which they benefit, the same as our farmers do. But importers continue to grasp at every straw they can to further impede the process.”

The full press release is available here.

 

NMPF Backs New Senate Legislation to Impose Tariffs on Milk Protein Imports: August 3, 2009

On August 3, 2009, NMPF endorsed new Senate legislation, S. 1542, to impose tariffs on imports of Milk Protein Concentrate (MPC), casein and caseinates.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) introduced legislation called the Milk Import Tariff Equity Act, which would create tariff-rate quotas on foreign dairy proteins that currently come into the U.S. in unlimited quantities. Since 2001, NMPF has supported the passage of the MITEA in order to close a loophole in the U.S. dairy sector allowing certain dairy proteins, such as MPC and caseins, to enter the U.S. and disrupt farm-level prices.

The full press release is available here.

 

USDA Requests Comments on Proposed Dairy Import Assessment Rule: June 4, 2009

At the beginning of June 2009, USDA opened a comment period to consider public reaction to their proposal for how to adjust the Dairy Checkoff program to comply with the new Farm Bill legislation and apply the Dairy Import Assessment on imported casein, MPC, cheese, butter, and other products.

NMPF stated that it was a fundamental matter of fairness that all parties who benefit from the U.S. dairy marketplace pay to help grow that market, urging all of its cooperatives to submit comments to indicate the widespread support for the issue and the urgency of moving quickly to put out a final rule. Comments are due to USDA by June 18th, and submission details are available in the Federal Register Notice.

The comments that NMPF will submit are available here. NMPF also prepared a template for coops and producers to use when they submit comments of their own. NMPF stressed that the dairy industry needed each coop as well as numerous individual producers to submit comments. Questions about the dairy import assessment should be directed to Jaime Castaneda or Shawna Morris.

 

NMPF Asks OMB to Fully Implement Extension of Dairy Promotion and Research Program: April 3, 2009

As a provision contained in the 2008 Farm Bill, the Dairy Promotion and Research program would assess imported dairy products in a manner similar to those products produced domestically for purposes of boosting demand in the U.S. market. In his April 3, 2009, letter to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), NMPF Chairman Randy Mooney requested that the OMB take steps to swiftly propose and finalize a rule on the dairy import assessment so that this long-awaited measure of fairer treatment for the U.S. dairy industry could finally be put into effect.

The letter is available here.

 

NMPF Submits Comments to International Trade Commission Regarding U.S. Import Restraints: February 6, 2009

In comments to the International Trade Commission that were sent on February 6, 2009, NMPF assessed the quantitative economic effects of U.S. dairy import restraints on the U.S. economy. Specifically focusing on tariff-rate quotas (TRQs)  that apply to U.S. imports of a number of dairy products, the comments stated that the policy of restricting U.S. imports of dairy products continues to be a necessary component of U.S. domestic dairy policy.

The full letter is available here.

 

For more import information, check out NMPF's Import Watch publication: