National Milk Producers Federation

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) expressed appreciation for the hard-fought free trade agreement between the United States and South Korea. The often intensive negotiations, which have been taking place since last spring, concluded Sunday.

“Given strong Korean sensitivities on a number of agricultural commodities including dairy, we are pleased that we have an agricultural deal that will immediately help U.S. producers and manufacturers be more competitive in the Korean dairy market,” says Jaime Castaneda, NMPF senior vice president and USDEC senior policy advisor.

The Korean FTA is expected to provide better trading terms through lower tariffs and improved market opportunities for many U.S. dairy products, including cheese, milk and whey powders, evaporated milk, butter and ice cream, among many others. South Korea was the eighth largest market for U.S. dairy products last year, with sales of $65.7 million. This figure was up 12 percent from 2005, and up 51 percent from the 2001-04 average.

“The tremendous time and effort put forth by our negotiators to conclude this agreement are greatly appreciated by the U.S. dairy producers, processors and traders that NMPF and USDEC collectively represent,” noted Castaneda. The U.S. Congress and Korea's National Assembly must approve the agreement before it can be implemented.