In a decision with clear implications for the regulation of U.S. dairy foods, the European Union (EU) Court of Justice ruled in late June that plant-based food companies cannot use most dairy-specific terms in labeling or advertising, and must abide by European law reserving terms such as “milk” and “cheese” for products derived from animals. During visits with European dairy companies in late June, NMPF’s leadership praised the ruling and discussed ways that dairy farm groups can further collaborate to defend the image and proper marketing of milk products.

“The European Court of Justice did just what we’re asking the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to do: Uphold and enforce current standards of labeling for milk and milk products,” said Jim Mulhern, NMPF president and CEO. “None of the fake dairy products provides the same high-quality nutrition package as real milk. It is past time that manufacturers of these products, which are factory-made concoctions of powdered plant ingredients and water, abide by existing standards, whether in Europe or the United States.”

The European court decision adds further impetus to NMPF’s campaign this year to encourage passage of the DAIRY PRIDE Act. The legislation would require the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to enforce the long-standing regulation that milk must come from an animal source, thus prohibiting plant-based “milks” from using dairy terminology on their labels. NMPF has continued to build support for the House and Senate companion bills since their introductions in late January.

Numerous op-ed pieces have appeared in newspapers around the country in support of the DAIRY PRIDE Act. On June 27, Lancaster Farming published an op-ed by Pennsylvania dairy farmer Lisa Graybeal, who argued that without FDA enforcement, plant-based companies can “skirt the law and freely promote their nutritionally inconsistent — and often inferior — imitations by using imagery and terms associated with real milk’s positive reputation.”

“Doing this creates inaccuracy in your grocer’s dairy case, and it’s unfair to consumers,” she said.

NMPF continues to publish legislative action alerts, news articles, infographics and other materials that advocate support for DPA. NMPF strongly encourages cooperatives to share these materials with staff, producer-members and on social media to garner additional congressional support for the DPA measure.

After more than two years of extensive effort by NMPF and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC), the United States and China signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) last month that will increase access to China for more than 200 U.S. dairy exporters in the short-term, and paves the way for additional U.S. entrants to the Chinese market in the future.

The MOU creates new, sizeable opportunities for dairy farmers and processors, as well as the milk, cheese, infant formula and ingredients they produce. "This is a great example of successful teamwork, both between NMPF and USDEC, as well as between our two dairy organizations and the U.S. government,” said NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern. “The opportunity to increase our sales to China will improve the economic situation for U.S. dairy farmers and support tens of thousands of jobs in the industry that extend beyond the farm.”

USDEC and NMPF worked closely with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Certification and Accreditation Administration of the People's Republic of China (CNCA), to implement a workable registration process that allows for trade to continue and expand in the future. The MOU also outlines a process in which third-party certification organizations, on FDA's behalf, will audit U.S. dairy facilities to make sure they comply with Chinese food safety requirements. This will provide consistent regulatory compliance between the two countries, each with their own respective, rigid systems. 

The journey to formulate the MOU involved more than 20 face-to-face meetings with CNCA, along with extensive interaction with FDA and USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service and Agricultural Marketing Service. In addition, USDEC’s market access team and NMPF’s trade policy staff coordinated two audits of U.S. facilities by Chinese inspectors. Those audits demonstrated the strength and effectiveness of U.S. production standards and FDA regulatory oversight.

The United States shipped $384 million worth of dairy products to China in 2016, making it the industry's No. 3 single-country export market, behind Mexico and Canada. With Chinese demand for imported milk and other dairy products increasing, the potential for job-creating U.S. exports has been high. But market access has been a challenge since China implemented Decree 145 in May 2014, which mandated that a nation must register and certify dairy facilities that want to ship to China and meet Chinese food safety standards. 

More than 60 dairy farmers from across the country descended upon Washington, D.C., in mid-June as part of NMPF’s annual young farmer fly-in, where in more than 200 meetings they asked their elected officials for support on key issues of importance to the dairy farmer community, including trade, food labeling, labor availability and the farm bill.

Farmers from 21 states visited their House and Senate members on June 13 as part of their participation in the 2017 NMPF Young Cooperator (YC) program. During these meetings, dairy producers discussed the challenges they currently face, and highlighted four priority policy issues they hope Congress will act on in the near future: the need to make significant improvements to the dairy Margin Protection Program; passage of the DAIRY PRIDE Act, which would require the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to enforce existing food standards for milk; a pro-active approach to trade policy, especially as the 24-year-old NAFTA agreement is renegotiated; and immigration reform that will protect the current agricultural workforce and provide the availability of farm labor in the future.

“We are excited to share the first-person perspective of America’s dairy sector at a time when elected officials in Washington really need to hear our voices about the topics that matter most to farmers,” said Melissa Griffin, a dairy farmer from Buckland, Mass., and chairwoman of the 2017 YC Advisory Council.

After an initial planning meeting on June 12, the YCs attended an educational seminar on how to properly speak with Congress members and their staff. The day after the Hill visits, they participated in NMPF’s board meeting, where they learned about the many other endeavors National Milk is currently undertaking on their behalf.

As the United States, Mexico and Canada move closer to talks on re-negotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), NMPF is emphasizing the importance of strengthening our trade relationship with Mexico and addressing Canada’s habitual anti-free trade policies in dairy.

The Trump Administration formally launched the NAFTA modernization process in May when it notified Congress of plans to proceed with renegotiating the 24-year-old trade pact. Through joint comments, hearings and high-level meetings, NMPF has delivered a strong and clear message: U.S., negotiators must preserve the successful relationship of open and dependable dairy trade with Mexico that has been established through NAFTA while addressing Canada’s protectionist dairy policies, including that nation’s harmful new pricing schemes.

On June 12, NMPF and the U.S. Dairy Export Council pledged to work with the Trump Administration throughout the modernization process to achieve these goals. In joint comments to the U.S. Trade Representative, the groups described the existing North American dairy landscape as one in which U.S. dairy products flow relatively unhindered to Mexico, but are curtailed by Canada’s exorbitant tariffs and increased use of policy tools hampering free trade and violating international trade obligations.

“The relationship between the dairy sectors of the United States, Mexico and Canada is of such great importance to all of our nations that we need to devote the time and effort to make it better,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “A modernized NAFTA agreement must preserve the strategically valuable trade relationship with Mexico, and remove remaining barriers to trade with Canada that were not adequately addressed in the original agreement.”

These same priorities were emphasized in a resolution approved unanimously by the NMPF Board of Directors at its June 14 meeting in Washington, D.C.

NMPF reminded the Trump Administration last month that a modernized NAFTA has the potential to increase U.S. dairy exports, create jobs and build business partnerships between the three countries. On the other hand, withdrawing from NAFTA could devastate the U.S. dairy industry. Last year’s dairy exports to Mexico – America’s top dairy export market –  equaled the milk output of 1,500 American dairy farms.

One of NMPF’s top requests of the Trump Administration is for a “decisive confrontation and resolution” of nontariff concerns, including the removal of Canadian milk pricing classes 6 and 7. This is a point NMPF hammered home during recent months, including most recently when National Milk was joined by an international coalition of nine other dairy organizations from the United States, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and the European Union in a coordinated effort to ask that their respective trade ministers confront Canada’s policy.

NMPF’s main concern in NAFTA for Mexico is ensuring that this critically important trade relationship is not in any way disrupted. This includes prioritizing new rules for a sanitary and phytosanitary chapter, and taking further steps in NAFTA to protect the ability of U.S. companies to sell cheeses with common names, like "parmesan" and "asiago.” An aggressive ongoing effort by the European Union (EU) to claim sole ownership of these cheeses must be rejected by Mexican and U.S. officials, NMPF told trade officials last month.

NMPF has also been deeply involved in shaping the NAFTA dairy negotiation strategy through engagement with administration staff, through both private, high-level meetings and at public hearings. Shawna Morris, NMPF’s vice president for trade policy, spoke before the International Trade Commission’s hearing on NAFTA tariff issues on June 20, while Jaime Castaneda, NMPF’s senior vice president for trade policy and strategic initiatives, testified at a USTR hearing on NAFTA modernization on June 27. Mulhern has been actively engaged in the administration’s Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee for Trade, which provides input on the NAFTA negotiations to USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

Since NAFTA’s implementation, the United States has shifted from being a consistent net importer of dairy products to being a significant net exporter. Over the past five years, cumulative U.S. dairy exports are more than double the import total. Last year alone, the U.S. dairy industry exported $1.2 billion worth of dairy products to Mexico. Mexico is the largest U.S. dairy export market by far, roughly double the size of the industry’s second-largest market, Canada.

PARIS, FRANCE – The recent European Court of Justice ruling upholding European Union regulations that prevent plant-based dairy alternatives from using terms like “milk,” “cheese” and “yogurt” is a victory in the same battle occurring in the United States, leaders of the National Milk Producers Federation told their French dairy counterparts here today.

During a visit Friday with French dairy cooperative Sodiaal and the French Dairy Interbranch Organization (CNIEL), NMPF’s board officers applauded the European high court’s ruling that upholds the standards of identity and labeling for milk products, and emphasized that NMPF will continue to fight for the enforcement of existing U.S. dairy food regulations.

“The European Court of Justice did just what we’re asking the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to do: Uphold and enforce current standards of labeling for milk and milk products,” said Jim Mulhern, NMPF president and CEO. NMPF is leading efforts on Capitol Hill to pass the DAIRY PRIDE Act, legislation that would require FDA to develop a timetable for enforcing standards of identity for dairy foods.

“It’s encouraging and appropriate that the court soundly rejected the argument that consumers understand the inherent composition and nutritional differences between real dairy products and plant-based imitators,” Mulhern said. “None of the fake milk products provides the same high-quality nutrition package as real milk. It is past time that manufacturers of these products, which are concoctions of powdered plant ingredients and water, abide by existing standards, whether in Europe or the United States.”

Last week, the European court’s decision prohibited TofuTown, a German plant-based foods company, from using dairy-specific terms in its labeling or advertising, noting that current European regulations expressly reserve the term “milk” for products derived from animals. The court further clarified that such regulations “reserve designations like ‘cream’, ‘chantilly,’ ‘butter,’ ‘cheese,’ and ‘yoghurt’ solely for milk products, that is, products derived from milk.”

NMPF’s officers met this week with their European counterparts in Denmark, Germany (left photo) and France to discuss mutual issues of interest, including the concern that imitation dairy foods are falsely marketing themselves as containing the same nutrition as real milk, cheese and yogurt. The groups also discussed the damage caused by the emerging use of anti-science-based fear tactics to market dairy products, such as the “non-GMO” movement.

“There’s no doubt that our colleagues here in Europe are facing similar challenges regarding consumer confusion around a variety of issues,” said Randy Mooney, chairman of NMPF. “It’s been beneficial to share learnings on such challenges and try to find solutions. On the matter of milk standards of identity, we’re hopeful this recent EU ruling will inspire our own FDA to begin enforcing its regulations.”

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The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), based in Arlington, VA, develops and carries out policies that advance the well-being of dairy producers and the cooperatives they own. The members of NMPF’s cooperatives produce the majority of the U.S. milk supply, making NMPF the voice of dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies. For more on NMPF’s activities, visit our website at www.nmpf.org.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Milk Producers Federation Board of Directors voted unanimously today to support modernizing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in a way that enhances and protects the United States’ current dairy market access opportunities and addresses Canada’s constant use of trade-distorting measures.

At its June meeting here, NMPF’s board passed a resolution outlining goals for the upcoming NAFTA renegotiation process. These include confronting Canada’s use of policies that hinder trade, such as its harmful Class 6 and 7 pricing schemes that negatively impact U.S. dairy exports. The resolution also requests that no harm be done to trade with the United States’ largest dairy export market, Mexico. It also calls for special attention to preserving and enhancing the protection of foods using common names, and strengthening rules related to sanitary and phytosanitary commitments with Canada and Mexico.

“Trade negotiations are always a balancing act, and the renegotiation of NAFTA will be another example of that dynamic,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “NMPF’s membership recognizes NAFTA’s essential role in expanding access to the Mexican market, where we export more than $1 billion annually in dairy products. We need to build on that market, and at the same time use the modernization effort to obtain more access to the Canadian market for our products, and roll back anti-competitive trade schemes used by Canada’s dairy sector.”

The NMPF resolution singled out Canada’s exorbitant dairy tariffs and pervasive use of policy tools like its Class 6 and 7 schemes, which were introduced last year. The new programs have been used to displace American exports of milk proteins to Canada and undercut U.S. dairy exports in overseas markets.

In May, the Trump Administration formally launched the NAFTA modernization process when it notified Congress that it plans to proceed with renegotiating the 24-year-old trade pact. NMPF will be actively engaged in this process through the submission of recommendations on the priorities of interest to U.S. dairy farmers, meetings with U.S. and foreign government officials, and close interaction with supporters in Congress.

“Exports are extremely important to the U.S. dairy industry,” Mulhern said, “accounting for $5 billion in sales annually and up to 100,000 jobs in areas tied to dairy farming and processing. NAFTA has contributed to this success, supporting tens of thousands of farm and dairy manufacturing jobs, as well as those in related industries.”

Earlier in the week, NMPF and the U.S. Dairy Export Council jointly filed comments on the NAFTA modernization process with the U.S. Trade Representative’s office.

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The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), based in Arlington, VA, develops and carries out policies that advance the well-being of dairy producers and the cooperatives they own. The members of NMPF’s cooperatives produce the majority of the U.S. milk supply, making NMPF the voice of dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies. For more on NMPF’s activities, visit our website at www.nmpf.org.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Dairy farmers from across the country visited Capitol Hill today as part of the National Milk Producers Federation’s annual young farmer fly-in to Washington, where in more than 200 meetings they asked lawmakers for action on a handful of issues important to the dairy sector.

More than 70 farmers from 21 states visited their House and Senate members Tuesday as part of their role as national leaders in the 2017 NMPF Young Cooperator (YC) program. The dairy producers discussed the challenges they currently face, and highlighted four priority policy issues that need Congress’ attention:

• The need to make significant improvements to the structure of USDA’s dairy Margin Protection Program, which currently is not providing an adequate economic safety net for farmers;
• The DAIRY PRIDE Act, which would require the U.S Food and Drug Administration to enforce existing food standards specifying that dairy terms such as “milk,” “cheese,” “yogurt” and “ice cream” should only be used by foods made from real milk;
• The importance of a balanced approach to trade policy, especially as the 24-year-old NAFTA agreement is renegotiated by the United States, Canada and Mexico;
• The need to reform immigration laws in a manner that helps preserve the existing agricultural workforce and allows for the future flow of dairy farm workers.

“We are excited to share the first-person perspective of America’s dairy sector at a time when elected officials in Washington really need to hear our voice about the topics that matter most to farmers,” said Melissa Griffin, a dairy farmer from Buckland, Mass., and chairwoman of the 2017 YC Advisory Council.

Griffin’s husband Adam, who co-chairs the council, added that “we were able to make our points about issues specific to dairy, such as the need for a viable farm safety net and the importance of integrity in federal food labeling laws.  We also showed how high-profile national issues such as trade and immigration affect our family farm in New England.”

Randy Mooney, chairman of NMPF and a dairy farmer from Rogersville, Mo., said that the YC Program “provides our community with a powerful grassroots presence.  We need their engagement in Washington because there are so many issues competing for the attention of Congress.  Thanks to our younger leaders stepping forward, we have a much better opportunity to reach our legislative goals.”

The NMPF Young Cooperators will join NMPF’s Board of Directors on Wednesday for their June board meeting.

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The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), based in Arlington, VA, develops and carries out policies that advance the well-being of dairy producers and the cooperatives they own. The members of NMPF’s cooperatives produce the majority of the U.S. milk supply, making NMPF the voice of dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies. For more on NMPF’s activities, visit our website at www.nmpf.org.

ARLINGTON, VA – Two leading dairy groups said today they will work with the Trump Administration to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to make sure it safeguards open trade with Mexico and confronts increasingly protectionist dairy policies by Canada.

In joint comments sent to the U.S. Trade Representative, the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) and the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) describe the existing North American dairy landscape as one in which U.S. dairy products flow relatively unhindered to Mexico but are curtailed by Canada’s increasing use of policy tools violating international trade obligations.

“NAFTA has accomplished a great deal over the past two-plus decades, but it has also been overtaken by new, unanticipated forms of trade and trade problems,” said Tom Vilsack, U.S. Dairy Export Council president and CEO. “We agree that NAFTA could use a facelift and our industry looks forward to working with the Trump Administration to explore ways to preserve and strengthen it.”

Since NAFTA’s implementation, the United States has shifted from being a consistent net importer of dairy products to being a significant net exporter. Over the past five years, cumulative U.S. dairy exports are more than double the import total.

“The relationship between the dairy sectors of the U.S., Mexico and Canada is of such great importance to all of our nations that we need to devote the time and effort to make it better,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation.  “A modernized NAFTA agreement must preserve the open and dependable trade relationship with Mexico, and remove remaining barriers to trade that were not adequately addressed in the original agreement.”

Last year, the U.S. dairy industry exported $1.2 billion worth of dairy products to Mexico, a dramatic increase from $124 million in 1995. Mexico is the largest U.S. dairy export market by far, roughly double the size of the industry’s second-largest market, Canada.

The comments submitted to USTR say a modernized NAFTA can increase U.S. dairy exports, create jobs and build business partnerships between the three countries. On the other hand, withdrawing from NAFTA could devastate the U.S. dairy industry. Last year’s dairy exports to Mexico alone required the milk equivalent of 1,500 American dairy farms.

The document’s top request of the Trump Administration is for a “decisive confrontation and resolution” of nontariff concerns, including the removal of Canadian milk pricing classes 6 & 7, and the inclusion of Canadian dairy tariffs.

The industry’s main concern for Mexico is protecting the ability to sell cheeses with common names, like “parmesan,” “gorgonzola,” “asiago” and “provolone.” An aggressive ongoing effort by the European Union (EU) to claim sole ownership of these cheeses must be rejected by Mexican and U.S. officials, according to comments from USDEC and NMPF.

U.S. dairy companies have been working with partners in the Mexican dairy industry for years to build the size and variety of cheese demand in Mexico. The comments ask the Administration to make it clear that the U.S. is “vehemently opposed to the imposition of any new restrictions on the market access opportunities for U.S. products relying on common names.”

The document concludes by stating its commitment to work with the Administration to modernize NAFTA.

“Improvements to NAFTA that prioritize our positive trade relationship with Mexico and address Canada’s flouting of its trade commitments to us can be achieved and are worth pursuing,” the document said. “This is an essential agreement that the United States dairy industry, and in fact the broader economy, cannot do without. It is because NAFTA is so important that this modernization effort is so valuable.

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The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), based 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 cooperatives produce the majority of the U.S, milk supply, making NMPF the voice of dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies. For more on NMPF’s activities, visit www.nmpf.org.

The U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) is a non-profit, independent membership organization that represents the global trade interests of U.S. dairy producers, proprietary processors and cooperatives, ingredient suppliers and export traders. Its mission is to enhance U.S. global competitiveness and assist the U.S. industry to increase its global dairy ingredient sales and exports of U.S. dairy products. USDEC accomplishes this through programs in market development that build global demand for U.S. dairy products, resolve market access barriers and advance industry trade policy goals. USDEC is supported by staff across the United States and overseas in Mexico, South America, Asia, Middle East and Europe.