ARLINGTON, VA – The National Milk Producers Federation joined a group of more than 1,000 agriculture, business and food companies today in urging the Senate to pass legislation that would create a uniform, federal system for labeling foods produced using biotechnology. NMPF and its 31 member cooperatives were among the 1,065 signers of the letter, as were dozens of dairy food companies and state dairy farm associations.

The letter, addressed to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), was sent by the Coalition for Safe and Affordable Food, of which NMPF is a member. It said the issue of biotech food labeling was “one of the most significant issues that the agriculture and food industry has faced in recent years,” and urged the leaders to take up the bill immediately.

The Senate measure, negotiated by Sens. Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) of the Senate Agriculture Committee, would preempt state laws such as the Vermont measure, and establish clear and consistent guidelines for how companies should disclose the presence of ingredients and foods made with biotechnology.

“The Senate approach provides information to consumers without inappropriately stigmatizing agricultural biotechnology in the process,” said Jim Mulhern, President and CEO of NMPF.  “We need the Senate and the House of Representatives to establish a clear federal policy for the labeling of foods made with biotechnology, and we need them to act quickly on the matter.”

A federal policy would help food producers avoid the higher economic costs of having several, different state labeling laws that would directly affect consumers, farmers and the entire food value chain, the letter said. “A Vermont-style on-pack only labeling mandate would mislead consumers and drive up their grocery bills.”

Food ingredients made using biotechnology have been proven safe by more than 2,000 studies from leading scientific bodies worldwide. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have all reaffirmed their long-standing recognition of the safety of the technology.

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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 – “We are very pleased that the months-long effort to develop a compromise national solution to provide information to consumers on foods made with biotechnology has resulted in a strong agreement.

From Jim Mulhern, President and Chief Executive Officer, NMPF:

ARLINGTON, VA – “We are very pleased that the months-long effort to develop a compromise national solution to provide information to consumers on foods made with biotechnology has resulted in a strong agreement.

“We commend Sens. Pat Roberts and Debbie Stabenow for their efforts to produce this sound and workable approach that will reaffirm the federal government’s role in food labeling policy and prevent the chaotic mess that would arise from leaving this issue to the whims of 50 different states. It is now critical that the Senate vote on and approve the Roberts-Stabenow agreement as soon as possible next week, prior to July 1 when the Vermont biotech labeling law is slated to take effect.

“We’re pleased that the legislative proposal clearly stipulates that milk and meat from animals that consume feed grown from biotech seeds are not subject to the labeling disclosure provisions. This is an important common sense provision. Milk and meat are not genetically modified just because the cows consume biotech feed, just like humans are not genetically modified by consuming foods derived from biotechnology. NMPF argued strongly for this provision throughout the negotiations process, and we are pleased that Sens. Roberts and Stabenow agreed with us.

“Earlier this month, our Board of Directors and our national Young Cooperators held dozens of meetings in the Senate and House to advocate for a national policy on this issue. Following those visits, the NMPF board adopted a resolution calling on Congress to act quickly to provide consumers across the country clear and consistent information on food biotechnology. It is gratifying that this grassroots expression from dairy farmers across the country had a positive impact.

“We are confident that this agreement will allow food companies to provide additional information to consumers about the products and processes used in formulating their foods in a way that doesn’t stigmatize foods produced with biotechnology. This will be important in addressing the interests of consumers and food producers, and ultimately to the future of agricultural sustainability.”

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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, DC – At a congressional hearing Tuesday on Capitol Hill, National Milk Producers Federation Chairman Randy Mooney said that well-negotiated trade agreements have the potential to increase export opportunities for America’s dairy farmers, but he warned that the terms of free trade agreements must be tenaciously enforced.

Mooney, a dairy farmer from Rogersville, Missouri, told the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee today that U.S. dairy sales in foreign markets have risen dramatically in the 21^st century, increasing 435% since 2000.  In addition to helping boost milk prices, these exports have “supported more than 120,000 American jobs solely at the dairy production and manufacturing levels,” he said.  He cited the World Trade Organization’s GATT agreement, NAFTA, CAFTA, and the agreement with South Korea as examples of trade deals that have benefited America’s dairy farmers.  [A full copy of Mooney’s testimony can be found here].

However, Mooney expressed concern that the benefits to dairy farmers from trade agreements are eroded if they are not carefully negotiated and then continuously and judiciously enforced.  One recent example of such a situation is in Canada, where efforts to restrict market access for American milk products are growing, apparently in anticipation of the enactment of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.

“NMPF supports TPP. We believe this agreement could deliver important benefits to U.S. dairy farmers provided that it’s properly implemented and enforced,” Mooney said, adding that the pending agreement contains ground-breaking sanitary and phytosanitary, and geographical indication, provisions.

But if TPP partners are allowed to erode existing access in order to undermine future U.S. TPP gains, “it is hard to see how this agreement will live up to its potential to move us forward,” Mooney said. This is particularly a concern with Canada, he indicated.

“We are drawing the line here. This recent action by Canada is a clear violation of their prior trade commitments, as well as the spirit of Trans-Pacific Partnership, and it cannot be permitted,” said Mooney, referring to a decision by Ontario’s provincial government to favor domestic milk proteins designed for use in Canadian cheese manufacturing in a way that disadvantages U.S. milk exports.  The regional Ontario milk pricing policy may soon also be implemented across Canada.

Mooney also used his presentation to reiterate NMPF’s concerns with the trade agreement being negotiated between the U.S. and Europe, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).  Rather than serving as a means to remove trade barriers and increase free trade of agricultural products, he said that the European Union “not only is maintaining their existing barriers, but also is actively pushing in TTIP to impose new barriers through special geographical indications provisions.”

Mooney indicated that the EU’s trade negotiation strategy centers on using agreements to extend the application of geographical indications to restrict certain food names exclusively for products made in European nations, even though many such foods are commonly produced and sold around the world, and have been for many years.

“The TTIP cannot be an agreement that expands EU dairy exports while failing to resolve barriers to U.S. dairy exports,” Mooney said. “That is why negotiators need to focus on the underlying problems we face in accessing the EU market, not the isolated symptoms of it.”

Mooney showed members of the Trade Subcommittee a basket full of American agricultural products, from Valencia oranges to asiago cheese to various meat products. Among the food items in the basket are “several of the common name products that the United States currently cannot export to Europe or other foreign markets. Compounding those serious export challenges, the EU is now working to prevent us from selling products with these common food names even in the United States as well,” Mooney said.

Given that European food companies already enjoy a major export advantage to the U.S., “America’s dairy farmers will not support a TTIP agreement that incorporates policies aimed at artificially increasing the $1.5 billion transatlantic dairy trade deficit. A solid deal must level the playing field for U.S. dairy exports.”

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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 – With Vermont’s biotechnology food labeling law about to take effect in July, the National Milk Producers Federation today urged Congress to take immediate action to establish a federal standard that would preempt state GMO food labeling mandates.

At its summer meeting today, the NMPF Board of Directors expressed its concern that, despite months of negotiation in the Senate, Congress still has not acted to establish a uniform national disclosure policy that provides consumers with clear and consistent information on food biotechnology.

In a resolution adopted at Wednesday’s meeting, NMPF’s board voiced concern that if the Vermont law goes into effect, other states may adopt similar approaches. The Vermont law is already causing disruptions in the marketplace, even before it takes effect, and a further worsening of this situation will severely harm farmers by threatening the continued utilization of agricultural biotechnology, according to NMPF.

“Plants produced through biotechnology not only are completely safe for consumers, they also improve our environment by reducing energy, water and pesticide use,” said Randy Mooney, Chairman of NMPF and a dairy farmer from Rogersville, Missouri.  “Farmers have overwhelmingly adopted these crop technologies because they increase productivity while enhancing agricultural sustainability.”

NMPF’s Board of Directors, and its Young Cooperator national advisory council, have been visiting their elected officials this week on Capitol Hill to reinforce the need for the Senate to reach agreement on a uniform national standard – and to do so as quickly as possible.  The House of Representatives has already passed its own version of a federal GMO labeling preemption, but the food industry is waiting on the Senate to act so that a single, uniform law can be implemented in 2016.

The NMPF resolution approved Wednesday also affirmed the importance of federal policy making clear that milk and meat from animals that consume GM feed are not subject to biotech labeling disclosure because the animal products are in no way genetically modified.

“There is no difference in milk or meat from cows that have consumed biotech crops, and that’s why any federal labeling disclosure needs to ensure the common-sense treatment of animal feed,” Mooney said.

Mooney told a hearing last month of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock that the failure by Congress to address this issue “threatens the viability not only of my farm, but also the 30,000 farmers I represent. It also threatens our ability to feed the world’s growing population.”

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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 U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last month released the seventh and final major component of its massive overhaul of federal food safety laws, known as the Food Safety Modernization Act. The final regulation is called “Mitigation Strategies to Protect Food Against Intentional Adulteration,” otherwise known as the Food Defense Rule. The new rule reflects input from NMPF that dairy farms need not be the focus of additional attempts to further regulate food safety at the farm level.

The purpose of this FSMA rule is to prevent intentional adulteration from acts intended to cause wide-scale harm to public health, including acts of terrorism targeting the food supply. The rule requires that a covered facility prepare and implement a food defense plan that identifies vulnerabilities, actionable process steps, mitigation strategies, procedures for food monitoring, corrective actions and verification. 

In response to comments submitted by NMPF, there are no requirements for dairy farms at this time. Instead, the agency will work with the National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments (NCIMS) to explore the matter further. Dairy processing facilities, on the other hand are subject to the rule. Facilities other than small businesses have three years to comply with the rule, while small and very small businesses have four and five years, respectively. 

Training materials will be created by the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance (FSPCA) to further explain the implications of this measure to the dairy sector. NMPF will host a webinar for our members on Wednesday, June 15, to review this rule. For more information to participate, contact Clay Detlefsen or Beth Briczinski.

NMPF Chairman Randy Mooney told a congressional committee in late May that the current dairy economic situation is presenting real challenges for dairy farmers, and urged Congress to work with NMPF to strengthen the Margin Protection Program, pass federal labeling preemption legislation for foods produced with biotechnology, and pursue market-access opportunities through balanced trade agreements.

Mooney, a dairy farmer from Rogersville, Missouri, and also chairman of Dairy Farmers of America, joined members of the turkey, pork and beef sectors at the hearing on the state of the livestock sectors.

In his testimony before the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture on May 24, Mooney said he believes that the Margin Protection Program is the right program for dairy’s future, but asked Congress to work with NMPF to explore further adjustments that would improve the program’s effectiveness.

“The program is not completely fulfilling its intended objective as an effective safety net,” said Mooney. “For many farmers, the MPP is simply not enough to protect them in this economic environment.”

The dairy industry is experiencing a global downturn in milk prices, in part because of large milk production increases in the European Union following the elimination of production quotas there in April 2015. The Margin Protection Program (MPP) was developed following the recession-induced dairy price crash seven years ago. The program offers dairy farmers the ability to purchase insurance-type coverage against poor margins in their income over feed costs.

Administrative changes that have been made to the program by USDA will enhance the MPP’s flexibility and make it more useful for farmers, Mooney said, but added that further steps by the Congress may be needed to “improve the effectiveness of MPP for all dairy producers.”

In his testimony, Mooney also urged Congress to quickly establish a national law prescribing disclosure provisions for foods made with genetically modified ingredients. A Vermont law requiring labels on many foods made with biotechnology is slated to take effect on July 1^st. In the absence of clear federal standards more states will likely pass their own mandates, leading to a confusing series of label requirements across the entire food marketing chain, he said.

“Failure by Congress to address this issue threatens the viability of not only my farm, but also the 30,000 farmers I represent. It also threatens our ability to feed the world’s growing population,” he said.

Addressing the topic of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, Mooney said that it is imperative that each participating country be held to its commitments, and that outstanding implementation and enforcement issues be addressed as Congress prepares to consider the pact.

Mooney also expressed concern about the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) currently being negotiated with the European Union (EU). Specifically, Mooney noted the EU’s lack of commitment to opening its markets to agricultural trade, and its repeated attempts to establish new non-tariff trade barriers through the use of geographical indicators and other protectionist measures.

“The EU has not demonstrated a good-faith commitment to open agricultural trade,” said Mooney. “The U.S. must proceed cautiously by securing clear commitments from the EU to guard against the imposition of future trade barriers.”

NMPF and allies in the dairy community around the world were successful in moderating the potentially harmful impact of a World Health Organization child nutrition guidance document that came before the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, last month.

Although the intent of the guidance document was to promote breastfeeding and young child nutrition, goals NMPF strongly supports, the proposal as drafted went dangerously overboard in suggesting sweeping restrictions that could have been interpreted to discourage milk and milk product consumption by toddlers up to age 3. In addition to being harmfully unclear and broadly worded, the guidance document’s scientific basis was sorely lacking.

Over the course of several months, NMPF reached out to the Obama Administration and Congress, urging them to address the concerns posed by the ill-advised guidance document drafted by WHO staff. These efforts included numerous discussions and meetings with various federal agencies, including the Departments of Health & Human Services and Agriculture, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and the White House.

NMPF President Jim Mulhern sent a letter to the President last month, together with the leaders of the U.S. Dairy Export Council and the International Dairy Foods Association, which underscored the seriousness of the issue. Leading congressional dairy supporters, who shared NMPF’s concerns, voiced similar concerns to high-ranking officials throughout the Administration as part of this effort. Those dairy champions included House Speaker Paul Ryan, Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch, Senate Finance Ranking Member Ron Wyden, Ways & Means Chairman Kevin Brady, and Representatives Ron Kind, Pat Tiberi, Peter Welch, David Valadao, and Devin Nunes, among others.

The U.S. government agreed with NMPF’s view that global public health policy must continue to reflect the important role dairy plays in child nutrition and U.S. statements at the concluding World Health Assembly meeting reflected that.  This was an important reaffirmation because, as written, the WHO guidance on foods for young children could have been interpreted in ways that resulted in new marketing limits on milk and other dairy products.  

“Thanks to the efforts of the U.S. government and NMPF we’ve ensured that the WHA resolution on this guidance incorporates well-established nutrition principles that stress the importance of consumption of nutrient-rich dairy products by toddlers both here and abroad," said NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern.

At the World Health Assembly (WHA) in late May, the U.S. played the lead role in shaping an important WHA resolution on the original WHO guidance document. The U.S. fought hard to ensure that the resolution provided important context around how countries should implement the guidance document. The U.S. focus was driven by an effort to ensure that child nutrition, not ideology, was the key driver in all decisions. NMPF’s work with the U.S. government, and their leadership at the WHA, achieved 4 beneficial results:

• Emphasized the continued importance of existing WHO & FAO dietary guidelines, which encourage dairy consumption;
• Ensured that any adoption of the guidance document take into account existing nutrition legislation and policies (which in the U.S. strongly encourage dairy consumption by young children) and international obligations (which prevent countries from unduly restricting trade);
• Provided an avenue for evaluating experiences with the guidance in order to examine its effectiveness and consider changes; and
• Upheld the independence of the Codex Alimentarius Commission as the appropriate standard-setting body for food products.

The U.S. statement at the WHA was unequivocal in stressing the benefits dairy consumption can have for child health and good nutrition. Specifically, the U.S. statement at the WHA highlighted that “children over six months of age need nutrient-rich complementary foods from a variety of sources. This can include dairy products such as milk, cheese and yogurt…This Guidance does not intend to discourage their inclusion in the diets of young children.” The U.S. press statement similarly highlighted dairy’s benefits by noting that dairy has been an important part of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans since the first edition was published in 1980.

NMPF will continue to work with the Administration and congressional allies to ensure that the critical contextual framework provided by the WHA resolution on this issue carries forward as the U.S. monitors how other trading partners are implementing the recommendations.

Following the U.S. International Trade Commission report on the economic impact of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, NMPF and the U.S. Dairy Export Council reiterated that the 12-nation trade agreement, if appropriately enforced, would be beneficial to the U.S. dairy industry.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) released its report in mid-May. The assessment analyzed specific economic characteristics of the TPP, including its impact on gross domestic output, imports and exports, and employment opportunities.

In assessing the TPP’s effect on dairy, the report concluded that the agreement would have an overall positive impact on U.S. dairy exports and a limited impact on U.S. dairy imports. In fact, new exports under TPP would exceed today’s imports by roughly $1.5 billion.

“If properly implemented and enforced, on balance the agreement will represent a step forward for the U.S. dairy industry,” NMP and USDEC said. “But the benefits of the TPP can only be realized if the United States ensures that the signatories live up to their commitments under the agreement, as well as to their prior trade obligations.”

The report also indicated that Japan and Canada would reduce selected tariffs over long phase-in periods, but both markets would remain highly managed even after TPP’s full implementation. In the U.S. import market, dairy producers in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand would be granted additional access under TPP with new dairy tariff-rate-quotas (TRQs). The report also indicated that Japan and Canada would reduce selected tariffs over long phase-in periods, but both markets would remain highly managed even after TPP’s full implementation. In the U.S. import market, dairy producers in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand would be granted additional market access with new dairy TRQs. However, with the exception of two products — butter and butter oil, and whole milk powder — the volume of foreign dairy products doesn’t reach the current maximum U.S. import quota, due to the higher cost of exporting to the United States, and relatively high prices in Asia. TPP members are not expected to significantly increase exports to the United States above current volumes. As a result, TPP members are not expected to significantly increase exports to the United States from current volumes.

“The TPP can support the continued growth of our industry if the United States ensures that the agreement advances U.S. dairy prospects compared to the status quo at the time of its conclusion, and that its provisions are fully implemented and aggressively enforced,” the dairy groups said.

The FARM Animal Care Program is hosting numerous events through the summer and fall to prepare participants for Version 3.0 of the program, set to be implemented on January 1, 2017.

Three, 2-day Train-the-Trainer courses will be held in Ithaca, N.Y., August 2-3; Minneapolis, Minn., Aug. 31-Sept. 1; and Phoenix, Ariz., Nov. 8-9. Each course will go over the goals of the FARM Program and explain how to successfully complete a FARM Version 3.0 evaluation with the new program guidelines. All FARM Program trainers wishing to maintain their certification must attend one of the above in-person training courses.

Additionally, the FARM Program will offer a one-day Evaluator Training course in Minneapolis on Sept. 2. All FARM Program Evaluators must recertify on Version 3.0 of the Program either in-person or online before January 1, 2017. More information on the Train-the-Trainer and Evaluators Training courses can be found on the FARM Program website.

The FARM Program also will host a FARM Evaluator Conference in Nashville, Tenn., November 2-3, 2016. This inaugural conference will inform evaluators about emerging animal health and welfare issues allow ample time for group discussions and networking. This conference will enhance individuals' evaluation and communications skills with session topics like social media 101 and crisis management training. Registration information on that meeting will be shared later this summer.