ARLINGTON, VA – U.S. dairy producers and manufacturers offered to collaborate today with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to continue fostering dairy food safety and job growth, as the agency develops procedures for regulating imported foods, including shellfish and dairy.

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) today asked for further engagement with FDA on ways to facilitate U.S. dairy exports, while expressing concerns that the manner in which the U.S. government is handling shellfish trade would pose a deep concern if that same process were applied to the trade of dairy foods.

At issue is FDA’s determination of whether a foreign country has “equivalent” food safety parameters as the United States. Equivalence is a process by which FDA can recognize other countries’ food safety measures as meeting an equivalent level of protection as provided by U.S. food safety measures, such as those mandated by the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference or the National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments (NCIMS).

In a letter sent today to FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, NMPF and USDEC praised the commissioner’s commitment to “unlock economic opportunity…by creating new market access” and outlined the various ways in which the agency’s actions on dairy equivalence would need to differ dramatically from the process followed for establishing bilateral shellfish equivalency to safeguard U.S. consumers while addressing job-constraining foreign barriers to U.S. dairy products.

This spring, FDA published a notice in the Federal Register soliciting comments on its proposed finding that the EU’s food safety system for certain raw shellfish is equivalent to that in the United States. The notice represented the first time the agency has issued an equivalence determination. NMPF and USDEC filed detailed comments analyzing the notice’s potential implications for America’s dairy industry as FDA continues its ongoing Grade “A” dairy equivalence assessments of New Zealand, the European Union and Canada.

“While we recognize that the U.S. government has international obligations to be responsive to trading partners’ equivalency requests while still upholding high U.S. food safety standards, our trading partners likewise have their own obligations to not impose unduly burdensome or trade-distorting measures on U.S. exports,” said NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern.

“As part of the administration’s efforts to expand the U.S. economy and grow American jobs, FDA has a responsibility to safeguard our consumers while also working in tandem with our trade agencies to tear down foreign barriers to U.S. products,” Mulhern continued. “FDA’s scarce resources are best spent pursuing these goals in concert with one another by working with their inter-agency partners to make the best use of the agency’s skilled staff and taxpayer funds. Trade needs to be a two-way street; some of our trading partners understand that better than others.”

USDEC’s Chief Operating Officer, Matt McKnight, noted another area of the Notice that would be problematic were it applied to dairy trade: “American dairy producers in every state are governed by a uniform dairy food safety program which is overseen by FDA and provides consistently high food safety results for U.S. products exported all around the world, regardless of where in this country they were made.”

McKnight continued: “A dairy export deal that allowed only two states to access a foreign market, as is the case under this shellfish proposal, would create unacceptable commercial inequities in our industry. Our exporters face a lot of roadblocks around the world, particularly in the EU market. We look forward to working with FDA to fully address those barriers and ensure that all U.S. dairy products from all U.S. states have an equal opportunity to benefit from the agency’s work to tackle countries’ unjustified or overly burdensome requirements on American-made products.”

In the letter, NMPF and USDEC reiterated that their joint comments did not scrutinize the technical merits of FDA’s decision on the safety of EU shellfish, but rather focused on the process employed with the goal of ensuring it is not replicated with respect to dairy trade. The two organizations seek to work in partnership with FDA to pursue a dairy model that will successfully uphold U.S. food safety standards while facilitating the resolution of barriers to U.S. exports that limit job growth in the dairy sector.

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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.

(Washington, D.C. – May 21, 2018) Most Americans know milk and other dairy products are an essential part of a healthy diet. But less well-known is dairy’s contribution to the health of the U.S. economy and the economies of every state across the country. A new storytelling campaign launched today by the U.S. dairy industry aims to shine a brighter, data-driven spotlight on the positive effects of dairy’s economic engine.

The U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC), the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) and the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) are collaborating to create the new “Got Jobs? Dairy Creates Jobs, Exports Create More” campaign. Over the next year, they will share in-depth data and compelling narratives featuring hardworking dairy farmers, innovative dairy company employees, resourceful retailers and many others throughout the food supply chain at GotDairyJobs.org.

Dairy Delivers℠

The U.S. dairy products industry supports nearly 3 million workers, generates more than $39 billion in direct wages and has an overall economic impact of more than $628 billion, according to IDFA’s economic impact tool, Dairy Delivers^SM. The tool also examines dairy’s economic ripple effect on other sectors of the national economy, showing dairy is responsible for $24.9 billion in state and local business tax revenues and another $39.5 billion in federal business tax revenues.

“With the Trump administration’s current focus on global trade, it’s important for consumers and policymakers to understand how dairy drives the American economy,” said

Michael Dykes, D.V.M., president and CEO of IDFA. “The United States needs sound trade policy that will place the U.S. dairy industry on a level playing field with global competitors. Backed by fair and proactive trade policies, the U.S. dairy industry will continue to keep and create jobs in states across the country.”

Easy-to-access Information

The new campaign provides a clearinghouse of information at GotDairyJobs.org. The site will offer monthly features, videos and plenty of hard facts that demonstrate dairy’s continued impact on jobs, tax revenue and communities around the country. Using #GotDairyJobs, the dairy industry will amplify the campaign and create the dairy jobs conversation on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

“Dairy has a positive story to tell, affecting a wide swath of America, creating jobs and tax revenue in rural, suburban and urban communities,” said Tom Vilsack, president and CEO of USDEC, who saw dairy’s impact first-hand as U.S. Agriculture Secretary. “I’m delighted we now have a go-to place where people can find state-by-state data and compelling human stories that reinforce the same message: `Dairy creates jobs and exports create more.’”

Farm to Table

“As milk continues its journey from farm to table, it becomes a job-creation machine, employing farm workers, truck drivers, construction workers, factory workers, retailers and even cargo ship captains navigating the ocean to ports in fast-growing countries demanding more dairy than their own countries can produce,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “The United States is uniquely positioned to meet this growing global need, which allows U.S. dairy to provide opportunities for job creation and growth in the United States.”

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About IDFA
The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), Washington, D.C., represents the nation’s dairy manufacturing and marketing industry, which supports nearly 3 million jobs, generates more than $39 billion in direct wages and has an overall economic impact of more than $628 billion. IDFA is the umbrella organization for the Milk Industry Foundation (MIF), the National Cheese Institute (NCI) and the International Ice Cream Association (IICA). IDFA’s members range from large multinational organizations to single-plant companies. Together they represent more than 85 percent of the milk, cultured products, cheese, ice cream and frozen desserts produced and marketed in the United States and sold throughout the world. The diverse membership includes numerous food retailers, suppliers and companies that offer infant formula and a wide variety of milk-derived ingredients. Visit IDFA at www.idfa.org.

About NMPF
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.

About USDEC
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.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Overwhelming opposition from a strong coalition of dairy farmers, processors, consumer groups, food safety advocates, federal and state public health regulators, the medical community, and other key stakeholders led to the defeat today of an amendment to the 2018 House Farm Bill that would have allowed the interstate sale of unpasteurized milk.

Amendment 30, offered by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), would have removed existing regulations that prohibit the interstate sale of raw milk for direct human consumption – a development that the coalition of opponents said would have threatened the health of millions of Americans. The Massie amendment failed Friday in the House by a vote of 331 against to 79 in favor.

In a May 14 letter to House leaders Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) insisted that Massie’s proposed amendment to the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018 (H.R. 2) represented “an unnecessary risk to consumer safety and public health.”

“This amendment defies decades of proven food safety by removing requirements for pasteurization, which has been cited by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as one of the great achievements in public health in the 20th century,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF.

In addition to opposition from NMPF and IDFA, strong letters of opposition to the amendment were also sent to House leadership by the Safe Food Coalition – a consumer group consortium consisting of the Center for Foodborne Illness, Research & Prevention; the Center for Science in the Public Interest; the Consumer Federation of America; the National Consumers League; STOP Foodborne Illness; and The Pew Charitable Trusts.

The National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments, a national food safety regulatory program that includes state milk regulatory agencies, dairy companies and FDA, also came out against the Massie measure, as did a coalition of 53 dairy cooperatives, state dairy associations and the American Association of Bovine Practitioners.

According to the dairy coalition letter, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that unpasteurized milk is 840 times more likely to cause foodborne illness than pasteurized milk, and nearly 75 percent of raw milk‐associated outbreaks have occurred in states where the sale of raw milk was legal. Thus, the dairy groups argued, eliminating any regulations that stem the interstate sale of raw milk in the United States “would increase the risk to public health, exposing consumers nationwide to the inevitable consequence of falling victim to a foodborne illness.”

“Nationally, our dairy industry benefits from a very high degree of consumer confidence – confidence built in large part by the excellent food safety record of milk and dairy products,” said Michael Dykes, D.V.M., president and CEO of IDFA. “Legalizing and regulating the sale of raw milk sends a signal to consumers that drinking unpasteurized milk is safe when, in fact, the opposite is true.”

Current statistics estimate only 1‐2 percent of reported foodborne outbreaks are attributed to dairy products. However, of those, more than 70 percent have been attributed to raw milk and inappropriately aged raw milk cheeses.

While this is the first time that Congress has debated changing federal laws to expand access to raw milk, NMPF and IDFA have worked for years to battle similar bills at the state level, including recent efforts in Tennessee, Virginia and Louisiana. NMPF and IDFA have long advocated against the consumption of raw milk and raw milk products because of the high risk of illness, as well as the potential for misinformation that could inappropriately tie raw milk health concerns to the safety of pasteurized dairy products.

“We greatly appreciate those who joined the current effort – from dairy producers, to dairy processors, state dairy regulators, consumer and food safety groups, state and local dairy organizations, the medical community, and veterinarians – and took a stand to oppose this irresponsible amendment that would have significantly compromised food safety,” said Mulhern.

Dykes added, “We appreciate the strong signal sent from the House of Representatives to raw milk advocates who could try to jeopardize public health in the future. We urge all legislators – at both the federal and state levels – who will face similar misguided efforts to follow the exemplary leadership demonstrated today by our nation’s representatives.”

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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.

The International Dairy Foods Association, Washington, D.C., represents the nation’s dairy manufacturing and marketing industry, which supports nearly 3 million jobs, generates more than $39 billion in direct wages and has an overall economic impact of more than $200 billion. IDFA is the umbrella organization for the Milk Industry Foundation (MIF), the National Cheese Institute (NCI) and the International Ice Cream Association (IICA). IDFA’s members range from large multinational organizations to single-plant companies. Together they represent more than 85 percent of the milk, cultured products, cheese, ice cream and frozen desserts produced and marketed in the United States and sold throughout the world. The diverse membership includes numerous food retailers, suppliers and companies that offer infant formula and a wide variety of milk-derived ingredients. Visit IDFA at www.idfa.org.

ARLINGTON, VA – Swedish food company Oatly, whose powdered, grass-based beverage is sold both in Europe and across the United States, should respect U.S. food labeling standards that restrict the use of the term “milk” to real dairy products, according to the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF).

NMPF said today that Oatly is just the latest fake “milk” that is exploiting a lax regulatory environment in the United States to mislabel its imitation dairy product. NMPF criticized Oatly for complaining to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last month that it would be placed at a disadvantage if it could not call its product “oat milk,” even though it is not called “oat milk” anywhere except in the United States – not even in its native Sweden.

In the U.S. market, Oatly labels its product as “oat milk.” But in its home market of Sweden, where the product originated more than 25 years ago, Oatly is labeled as “havre dryck,” or “oat drink” in Swedish.  European Union (EU) regulations – similar to existing U.S. government standards – define milk as an animal product and do not allow plant-based milk copycats to use dairy terms.

“It takes a lot of gall to complain to FDA that your company would be harmed by calling its product exactly what its already been labeled for years in its home market,” said NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern. “It’s been sold as an oat drink – which is exactly what it is – since it was first introduced in Sweden. Given that the EU and United States have similar food labeling regulations governing dairy terms, Oatly should label their product as an oat drink here, just as they do in Sweden.”

Oatly’s complaint was contained in an April 11 letter sent to FDA regarding a petition by the Good Food Institute (GFI), a group promoting vegan foods. Oatly wrote in support of GFI’s petition, which called for FDA to modify existing food standards to sanction the current marketplace abuse of marketers using dairy terms on products made from plants, not milk.

In a letter to FDA, Oatly U.S. General Manager Mike Messersmith said “budding and innovative companies like Oatly would be placed at a serious disadvantage if we were no longer allowed to use terms that instantly and accurately convey what’s inside the carton. ‘Oat liquid,’ ‘oat beverage,’ or ‘oat juice’ fail to explain what our products actually are and would almost certainly result in decreased sales.”

Mulhern said that using any of those three terms much more accurately conveys what’s inside the carton than falsely labeling it “oat milk.”

“They are not allowed to call it ‘oat milk’ in Sweden and it’s been sold there for years,” he said. “The reality is that Oatly wants to use the word ‘milk’ because the word brings a healthy halo of consistent, reliable nutrition and other benefits. They are clearly riding on milk’s nutritional coattails to boost their own profits. It’s unfair to America’s dairy farmers, who follow strict regulations to ensure their real dairy products are safe and nutritious.  And it’s unfair to consumers because this product does not match milk’s superior nutritional package,” Mulhern said.

In promoting its cereal-derived beverage as oat “milk,” Oatly is blatantly skirting U.S. food labeling regulations, which dictate that any product using dairy terms including “milk,” “cheese” or “yogurt” must have originated from an animal. NMPF has long insisted that FDA take enforcement action against similarly misbranded products.

To highlight Oatly’s doublespeak to the FDA, NMPF has created a graphic that illustrates the difference between Oatly’s U.S. and Swedish packaging. This image will join others in NMPF’s “Dairy Imitators: Exposed” campaign, which calls out non-dairy imitation brands for ignoring federal standards and failing to live up to real milk’s complete nutrient package.

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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.

After requests from farmers, program participants and dairy customers across the country, the National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Program is expanding its suite of educational resources addressing on-farm dairy safety.

The FARM Program materials will help farmers who want basic human resources tools and safety practices for their employees, enabling farm owners to increase worker engagement, reduce employee turnover and manage liabilities from the safety risks of dairy farming. The materials will also help answer questions from major dairy customers asking about farm employee management.

Last year, the FARM Program pulled together the FARM Dairy Safety task force – comprising dairymen, cooperative management and safety experts from across the country – to begin addressing the questions being asked of the industry. The task force then decided to form two working groups focused on worker safety and human resources.

The task force has directed the FARM Program to begin creating educational materials to distribute to dairy farmers in 2018, with input from the working groups. The following materials will be available to farmers later this year:

Human Resources

• 50 State by State Factsheets for all relevant HR laws applicable to dairy farmers
• Producer Self-Assessment Checklist
• FARM Human Resources Manual
• Housing Provider Best Practices
• Employee Handbook Template
• Online HR Management Training Module

Worker Safety

• Producer Self-Assessment Checklist
• FARM Worker Safety Manual
• Safety Plan Template
• Worker Safety Videos

As the FARM Program receives input from different sources, it is also looking for examples of positive producer safety efforts happening on FARM dairy operations. Contact Ryan Bennett with any questions, input or examples of dairy farms using effective worker safety or HR practices.

The National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Program and the Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) program are now accepting nominations for the first-ever joint FARM/BQA Dairy Award for 2019. The deadline to apply is June 1, 2018.

The awards honor outstanding beef and dairy producers and marketers that demonstrate the best animal care and handling principles as part of their day-to-day operations. This is an opportunity for NMPF member cooperatives and FARM participants to recognize dairy farmers that they believe demonstrate a strong commitment to quality animal care. NMPF board member Chris Kraft received the honor in 2017 (Chris and his wife are pictured right).

The winner of the BQA/FARM Dairy Award is selected by a committee of animal scientists, FARM staff, BQA staff and industry representatives based on a set of five criteria:

• The farm’s collective BQA and FARM practices, accomplishments and goals;
• Relevant local, regional and national BQA and/or dairy promotion group or cooperative leadership;
• Promotion and improvement of animal care practices, BQA or FARM program and consumer perception of beef or dairy industries;
• Effectiveness in promoting and implementing BQA practices; and
• Completion of the FARM Version 3.0 Animal Care Evaluation and implementation of program requirements.

Any individual, group or organization can nominate a single dairy operation for the award. Individuals and families may not nominate themselves, though they can be involved when preparing the application.

The award was previously offered solely by BQA, whose awards recognize outstanding members of the beef industry. NMPF and FARM Animal Care partners with both the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and BQA to create producer resources on stockmanship, dairy beef welfare and quality, and animal care.

NMPF has expressed concern over a new labeling proposal that was submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requesting the use of simple vitamin letter names on both the Nutrition Facts label and Ingredient Declaration lines.

The petition, submitted by DSM Nutritional Products, proposed simplifying the vitamin names and grouping them into a single “VITAMINS” line below the ingredient list. In submitted comments, NMPF said this grouping may be interpreted by consumers as a special “call-out” of the nutrients for which the food is a good or excellent source. NMPF suggested the issue needed to be explored further, and expressed concern that the proposal would encourage fortification by manufacturers rather than the consumption of naturally nutrient-dense foods.

For example, when comparing the vitamin declarations for whole milk and low-fat milk, the following would appear beneath the ingredient list as such:

VITAMINS:  D. (for whole milk)

VITAMINS:  A, D. (for low-fat milk)

Consumers could misinterpret this label as declaring that whole milk is not a source of Vitamin A because it is not noted in the vitamin declaration line. In fact, whole milk contains Vitamin A naturally, and low-fat milk is fortified to replace the Vitamin A lost when the milkfat is removed.

“This oversimplification may falsely boost the perceived healthfulness of a heavily fortified product, while minimizing the presence of naturally-occurring nutrients in nutrient-dense foods for which consumption is encouraged by dietary guidance,” NMPF said.

In its conclusion, NMPF suggested that FDA conduct consumer research on the perceptions of the labeling proposal, and that the agency go through formal rulemaking to obtain broad public comment before moving forward.

Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) helped member cooperatives secure contracts to sell 4.61 million pounds of American-type cheeses, 4.21 million pounds of butter and 923,737 pounds of whole milk powder to customers in Asia, Central America, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and Oceania. The product will be sent to customers in 16 countries in five regions. It will be shipped from April-October 2018.

The 2018 year-to-date total of CWT-assisted dairy product sales contracts is 33.77 million pounds of cheese, 9.82 million pounds of butter and 923,737 pounds of whole milk powder. The total tonnage is up 44 percent compared to the first four months of 2017. These transactions will move overseas the equivalent of 539.45 million pounds of milk on a milkfat basis. The amounts of dairy products and related milk volumes reflect current contracts for delivery, not completed export volumes. CWT will pay export assistance to the bidders only when export and delivery of the product is verified by the submission of the required documentation.

In April, CWT began implementing a strategic plan reviewed by the CWT Committee the previous month. The changes will enhance the effectiveness of the program and facilitate member export opportunities. The revisions to the program’s operating procedures, effective April 18, include:

• Extending eligibility to whole milk powder and blends of natural cheeses (e.g. Colby/Jack);
• Establishing eligible volumes of butter and whole milk powder at a maximum of 150 MT;
• Establishing eligible volumes of cheese at a maximum of 300 MT;
• Extending the delivery period for cheese to 180 days, and;
• Allowing exceptions to the volume and delivery periods for butter and whole milk powder, if merited.

These provisions are the first in a series of anticipated changes to the program’s operating procedures. CWT is currently evaluating the possibility of including additional items on the list of eligible products. More information will be released as appropriate.

Both now and in the years ahead, a thriving U.S. dairy export sector is critical to the growth and viability of dairy farmers across the country. Whether or not a cooperative is actively engaged in exporting cheese, butter or whole milk powder, the domestic market cannot absorb the current level of domestic milk production. CWT helps move domestic dairy products to overseas markets by helping to overcome certain disadvantages, such as the domestic/global price gap and shipping costs.

All cooperatives and dairy farmers are encouraged to add their support to this important program. Membership forms are available on the CWT website.

The monthly margin for March under the dairy Margin Protection Program (MPP) dropped an additional $0.12/cwt. from February to $6.77/cwt. This was the fourth monthly drop in the MPP margin, but a much smaller one than the previous three, which were each greater than $1.00/ cwt. The March all-milk price increased by $0.30/cwt. from February, to $15.60/cwt. The March feed cost formula was up by $0.42/cwt. from February, with the increase split almost evenly, on a per-hundredweight-of-milk basis, between gains in prices for all three of the formula’s feed cost components.

USDA’s MPP Decision Tool has been updated to show monthly margins following enactment of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 earlier this year, which changed the frequency of MPP payments from bimonthly to monthly. The tool projects that coverage at the $8.00/cwt. and $7.50/cwt. coverage levels would result in positive net payments in excess of premiums and fees for up to 5 million pounds of production history, based on the April 26 CME dairy and grain futures settlement prices (see chart). Producers have until June 1 to sign up for coverage under the MPP containing the budget legislation’s new, more favorable program provisions. Producers must sign up to be covered for 2018, even if they signed up last year for coverage this year.

USDA’s MPP margin forecasts are updated daily online. NMPF’s Future for Dairy website offers a variety of educational resources to help farmers make better use of the program.

Last month, the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) announced a formal partnership with the Pan American Dairy Federation (FEPALE) to promote free trade and combat trade-inhibiting regulations and policies. This is of critical importance to NMPF’s members, as well, given how it will affect global rules and guidelines pertaining to topics such as animal care, food safety and nutrition.

The partnership is designed to enhance communications and information-sharing. It will also promote better education of governments to ensure that international regulations remain science-based, and that there is coordinated opposition against non-scientific regulations that could disrupt trade in forums like the World Health Organization, the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the Office of International Epizootics and others.

Decisions in each of these bodies have the capacity to significantly impact the livelihoods of U.S. dairy producers and their cooperatives. Working with allies to ensure a reasonable and unified voice grounded in science will help make headway on topics impacting the dairy industry around the world.

“The partnership will develop and promote a strong network between the U.S. dairy industry and the dairy industries of Latin America to protect and enhance milk sales through regulatory cooperation and policy partnerships,” said Jaime Castaneda, Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and Trade Policy for NMPF.

Mexican and European trade officials have concluded negotiations on a trade accord that could generate new trade barriers for U.S. dairy producers and processors. Although the European Union (EU) was unsuccessful in its effort to replicate the duty-free access to the Mexican dairy market enjoyed by the United States, Mexico did bow to EU pressure to restrict certain cheese exports from the United States.

While Mexico preserved the rights of the United States to sell cheeses with some common food names, many key terms were restricted to only European manufacturers. Generic terms such as parmesan, feta, Munster, gorgonzola, Asiago, fontina and Neufchatel appear to be slated for future restrictions despite long-standing generic use of —and consumer familiarity with — many of these names in Mexico.

Preliminary information on the agreement signals that the U.S. government needs to do even more to ensure that “a bad situation doesn’t become even worse as the final details of the agreement are ironed out,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF.

“It is deeply frustrating for U.S. farmers and food manufacturers that the U.S. government has not been able to persuade our closest allies — those in the NAFTA region — to simply honor their existing trade commitments to us,” Mulhern said. “This means that our exporters now face fewer opportunities for their products, and trading partners are emboldened to see how much further they can push the boundaries of creating non-tariff trade barriers.”

Sustained collaboration with the Mexican dairy sector helped preserve the United States’ unique status as the only major dairy supplier with duty-free access to the Mexican market. NMPF’s active role as a key member of the U.S.-Mexico Dairy Alliance helped to bring about this result, which will help U.S. suppliers in holding onto market share in this important dairy market.

The EU-Mexico agreement is not expected to be ratified until 2019, and must still be reviewed by the Mexican administration. This provides the United States with a window to work on preserving consumers’ choices and exporters’ market access rights in Mexico.

With negotiations over the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) moving closer to a resolution in 2018, NMPF remains focused on keeping the pressure on the Trump Administration to deliver on the dairy industry’s goals for a successfully modernized agreement.

National Milk has been working closely with congressional allies to underscore why dairy market access into Canada and the elimination of Canada’s trade-distorting Class 7 pricing scheme are so critical in a revised “NAFTA 2.0” deal. NMPF continues to highlight the fact that Canada’s “Class 7” pricing scheme has noticeably disrupted U.S. dairy sales to our northern neighbor and to other markets.

“In just a year’s time, Canada has used that Class 7 program to triple its milk powder exports by creating excess milk production capacity within Canada, then dumping the resulting milk powder onto world markets,” NMPF said in an April 3 letter sent jointly to U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer, alongside the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) and the International Dairy Foods Association. “This is distorting the markets that U.S. companies rely on to make ends meet and is hurting milk sales from American dairy farms.”

The U.S. industry’s plea to unwind this unfair trade barrier and expand a wider range of dairy export opportunities to Canada was recently echoed by key lawmakers, who have worked closely with NMPF to fight Canada’s Class 7 system since its inception. On April 24, 68 members of the U.S. House of Representatives requested immediate action in the ongoing NAFTA negotiations.

Similar requests also came from the Senate – including from Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) – thanks to ongoing education efforts by NMPF and its members, as well as outreach from industry partners like USDEC. Numerous members of Congress have also made phone calls to USTR or pressed the administration on these issues in recent hearings.