ARLINGTON, VA ─ The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) expressed support today for the recently-negotiated Free Trade Agreement between the United States and Panama.
The negotiations, which concluded Tuesday, will help the U.S. build on its export presence in Panama, once the agreement is approved by Congress.
“This is a great opportunity to expand U.S. dairy exports and improve the U.S. trade balance for dairy products,” says Jaime Castaneda, NMPF senior vice president and USDEC senior policy advisor. He noted that Panama imports nearly half of its dairy products, and the U.S. stands to become a larger supplier once the FTA is finalized.
“The tremendous time and effort put forth by our negotiators to bring this agreement to a successful close are greatly appreciated by the U.S. dairy producers, processors and traders that NMPF and USDEC collectively represent,” he says.
The terms of the FTA are expected to provide new exports for all categories of U.S. dairy products, including cheese, milk proteins and ice cream, among many others. Equally important to the preferential market access provisions contained in the agreement are portions of the FTA dealing with sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) issues and the administration of new quotas. The FTA must effectively address these important non-tariff issues in order to allow for smoother market operations.
NMPF and USDEC look forward “to working with the Bush Administration to ensure that all the benefits granted by Panama in this FTA are indeed fulfilled, so that our organizations can communicate the benefits of this agreement to Congress in the coming year,” Castaneda says.
In 2004, Panama imported 167 million pounds, milk equivalent, of dairy products – the equivalent to 42 percent of Panama’s milk production. In 2005, the U.S. exported $3.5 million worth of dairy products to Panama.
The National Milk Producers Federation, headquartered in Arlington, VA, develops and carries out policies that advance the well-being of U.S. dairy producers and the cooperatives they collectively own. The members of NMPF’s 33 cooperatives produce the majority of the U.S. milk supply, making NMPF the voice of 60,000 dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies.
The U.S. Dairy Export Council is a non-profit, independent membership organization that represents the export trade interests of U.S. milk producers, proprietary processors, dairy cooperatives, and export traders. Its mission is to increase the volume and value of U.S. dairy product exports. USDEC maintains offices in Mexico City, Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taipei, London, Bangkok and Sao Paulo to assist in the export of U.S. dairy products worldwide. Working through these offices and in numerous other countries, USDEC creates demand in consumer, foodservice and ingredient channels to help drive sales of U.S. dairy products.
