ARLINGTON, VA – While the United States has reduced support mechanisms for dairy farmers in recent years, a wide range of foreign dairy subsidies remain, limiting the U.S. industry’s ability to sell more of its products overseas, the National Milk Producers Federation said today.  

In testimony before the House Agriculture Committee, NMPF said these foreign dairy support programs impede an industry that has gone from exporting less than $1 billion in dairy products in 2000 to $7.1 billion last year.

“Trade agreements have helped make this possible by lowering and removing barriers to our exports,” said Jaime Castaneda, right, NMPF’s senior vice president. “However, they have done little to constrain the use of domestic supports in the dairy sector or agriculture as a whole.”

Foreign dairy subsidies take different forms, ranging from direct aid, to import protections and regulatory measures designed to give foreign dairy producers an advantage over U.S. competitors.

According to Castaneda, the 28-nation European Union is the biggest provider of direct dairy support, offering cash payments, storage subsidies, price supports and, most recently, emergency aid to producers to counter low prices. In addition, the EU is attempting to limit dairy imports further by blocking the use of commonly used product names outside prescribed areas.

For example, Castaneda said, an American producer of feta or parmesan cheese can no longer sell those products within the European Union, even though the names have been widely used for many years. “What better way to impede or prevent imports of a given product than to ban the use of its name?” he said.

Other major countries providing direct support to their dairy farmers include Canada, India, New Zealand, and Japan, among many others, Castaneda said.

“While the United States has reduced its dairy subsidies and support mechanisms, other countries have maintained and expanded theirs,” Castaneda said.

In addition to his NMPF role, Castaneda works closely with the U.S. Dairy Export Council in promoting the U.S. dairy industry’s interests globally. 

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The National Milk Producers Federation, 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 more than 32,000 dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies. Visit www.nmpf.org for more information.

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The dairy industry today said it is “critical” that Congress solve the trade dispute over country-of-origin labeling to head off damaging new tariffs on U.S. dairy exports by Canada and Mexico.

In a letter to the Senate, the National Milk Producers Federation, U.S. Dairy Export Council and International Dairy Foods Association expressed “growing apprehension” that retaliatory tariffs are drawing closer under a finding that said parts of the U.S. country-of-origin labeling (COOL) law violate World Trade Organization rules.

“(We) urge the Senate to pass legislation to bring the U.S. into compliance with its WTO obligations without further delay,” the groups said.

Last spring, the WTO ruled against the U.S. COOL program, saying that Canada and Mexico could retaliate against U.S. exports in response. American dairy products have been on Canada’s target list for retaliatory tariffs resulting from the ruling.

“Retaliation against dairy products would come at a particularly challenging time for our industry, given the currently depressed global dairy market…” said NMPF, USDEC and IDFA. “Multiple cooperatives have already been faced at times this year with oversupplies of milk, causing them to dispose of excess milk at a loss. Retaliatory tariffs would back up exports further onto the U.S. market during this time of overly abundant milk supplies.”

Any congressional solution, the groups added, must satisfy Canada and Mexico because those two countries would retain their right to retaliate against the United States until a lengthy WTO arbitration process is concluded. “U.S. dairy producers and processors cannot risk getting mired down in that drawn-out process,” they said.

The three groups asked the Senate to work together “to put in place an outcome that Canada and Mexico agree resolves this issue.”

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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 nearly 32,000 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. The U.S. Dairy Export Council prohibits discrimination on the basis of age, disability, national origin, race, color, religion, creed, gender, sexual orientation, political beliefs, marital status, military status, and arrest or conviction record.

The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), Washington, D.C., represents the nation’s dairy manufacturing and marketing industries and their suppliers, with a membership of 550 companies representing a $125-billion a year industry. IDFA is composed of three constituent organizations: the Milk Industry Foundation (MIF), the National Cheese Institute (NCI) and the International Ice Cream Association (IICA). IDFA’s nearly 200 dairy processing members run nearly 600 plant operations, and range from large multi-national 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. IDFA can be found at www.idfa.org. 

OCTOBER 8, 2015 — After an intense week of final negotiations in Atlanta, representatives from the 12 countries involved in the Pacific Rim trade deal reached a final agreement early Monday morning, ending more than five years of work on the massive agreement known officially as the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Details of the final agreement are slowly emerging, and NMPF is examining them to assess the package’s overall impact on the U.S. dairy industry. The dairy negotiations were among the most difficult and contentious aspects of TPP talks, and dairy was one of the very last pieces of the negotiations wrapped up. Over the years-long duration of this major regional trading agreement, NMPF at each turn has worked aggressively to best position U.S. dairy interests.

As they did during the previous meeting of TPP Ministers in late July, NMPF staff and leadership actively participated in discussions with the negotiating team in Atlanta throughout the week in order to advocate strongly for America’s dairy farmers.

When the TPP effort began, it was little more than a façade for a free trade agreement with New Zealand, in light of the other 3 countries involved. Given the uniquely consolidated structure of New Zealand’s dairy industry, NMPF articulated strong concerns about the prospect of creating a one-way trade agreement with that country.

Eventually, in response to consistent recommendations from NMPF and others, countries with more significant dairy markets — Canada and Japan — were added to this agreement. Those decisions created new opportunities for our industry in TPP that previously had not been possible.   

We are still evaluating the extent of those new opportunities in the final package, as well as the degree of new domestic dairy competition that the U.S. government has agreed to with Australia and New Zealand. Given that dairy was concluded only Monday morning and involves a considerable degree of complexity across various countries and tariff lines, NMPF is withholding its judgment on the final agreement until we are able to review the specifics. 

“Based on information available to date, it appears that our industry has successfully avoided the type of disproportionate one-way street that we were deeply concerned could have resulted under this agreement,” said Jim Mulhern, President and CEO of NMPF. “New Zealand did not get the unfettered access to the U.S. market that it long sought; but Japan and Canada did not open their markets to the degree we sought. On an A through F grading scale for TPP, it was long clear the agreement would not score an A; the preliminary information suggests that the result is not an F. Our assessment of which of the remaining grades the final agreement merits will hinge on a careful analysis of its freshly agreed-upon dairy details.”

The strong and unified insistence from dairy farmers and processors across this country — aligned with dozens of members of Congress — reminded TPP parties throughout the course of negotiations of the risk of agreeing to a harmful dairy outcome. Fresh examples of that support in the final week included strong messages from House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and committee member Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI), Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and committee ranking member Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), a TPP House dairy letter led by Rep. Reid Ribble (R-WI), a TPP letter on dairy and sugar issues led by Senate Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), and a TPP letter on agricultural issues (including dairy) led by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway (R-TX).

Mulhern and NMPF Chairman Randy Mooney expressed deep appreciation for the strong interest and support from Capitol Hill in the outcome of the agreement’s dairy negotiations.

Read NMPF’s news release on the close of TPP negotiations.

After an intense week of final negotiations in Atlanta, representatives from the 12 countries involved in the Pacific Rim trade deal reached a final agreement early Monday morning, ending more than five years of work on the massive agreement known officially as the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Details of the final agreement are slowly emerging, and NMPF is examining them to assess the package’s overall impact on the U.S. dairy industry. The dairy negotiations were among the most difficult and contentious aspects of TPP talks, and dairy was one of the very last pieces of the negotiations wrapped up. Over the years-long duration of this major regional trading agreement, NMPF at each turn has worked aggressively to best position U.S. dairy interests.

As they did during the previous meeting of TPP Ministers in late July, NMPF staff and leadership actively participated in discussions with the negotiating team in Atlanta throughout the week in order to advocate strongly for America’s dairy farmers.

When the TPP effort began, it was little more than a façade for a free trade agreement with New Zealand, in light of the other 3 countries involved. Given the uniquely consolidated structure of New Zealand’s dairy industry, NMPF articulated strong concerns about the prospect of creating a one-way trade agreement with that country.

Eventually, in response to consistent recommendations from NMPF and others, countries with more significant dairy markets — Canada and Japan — were added to this agreement. Those decisions created new opportunities for our industry in TPP that previously had not been possible.   

We are still evaluating the extent of those new opportunities in the final package, as well as the degree of new domestic dairy competition that the U.S. government has agreed to with Australia and New Zealand. Given that dairy was concluded only Monday morning and involves a considerable degree of complexity across various countries and tariff lines, NMPF is withholding its judgment on the final agreement until we are able to review the specifics. 

“Based on information available to date, it appears that our industry has successfully avoided the type of disproportionate one-way street that we were deeply concerned could have resulted under this agreement,” said Jim Mulhern, President and CEO of NMPF. “New Zealand did not get the unfettered access to the U.S. market that it long sought; but Japan and Canada did not open their markets to the degree we sought. On an A through F grading scale for TPP, it was long clear the agreement would not score an A; the preliminary information suggests that the result is not an F. Our assessment of which of the remaining grades the final agreement merits will hinge on a careful analysis of its freshly agreed-upon dairy details.”

The strong and unified insistence from dairy farmers and processors across this country — aligned with dozens of members of Congress — reminded TPP parties throughout the course of negotiations of the risk of agreeing to a harmful dairy outcome. Fresh examples of that support in the final week included strong messages from House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and committee member Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI), Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and committee ranking member Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), a TPP House dairy letter led by Rep. Reid Ribble (R-WI), a TPP letter on dairy and sugar issues led by Senate Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), and a TPP letter on agricultural issues (including dairy) led by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway (R-TX).

Mulhern and NMPF Chairman Randy Mooney expressed deep appreciation for the strong interest and support from Capitol Hill in the outcome of the agreement’s dairy negotiations.

Read NMPF’s news release on the close of TPP negotiations. 

NMPF and the U.S. Dairy Export Council have told the U.S. Trade Representative that Russia’s ban on Western dairy imports, imposed in response to economic sanctions instituted after the invasion of Ukraine, is disrupting global dairy markets and appears to violate international trade rules. 

In comments filed with USTR late last month, NMPF and USDEC condemned the Russian ban and said it was forcing a shift of dairy supplies from Europe to other global markets, where competition for buyers is intensifying. In addition, they said, “Russia’s outright ban on products from the U.S. and other major suppliers for purely political reasons appears to be in violation of its World Trade Organization commitments.”

The two groups urged USTR to prepare for the ban to be lifted by establishing a government list of dairy facilities wanting to export to Russia. “The reality is that if the ban were lifted tomorrow, the U.S. dairy industry would still be cut off from this market due to the facility listing requirement Russia is maintaining in violation of its WTO accession commitments,” they said.

In separate comments on China’s compliance with WTO rules, NMPF and USDEC said some U.S. dairy companies still are unable to ship products to China because of Chinese registration requirements. They urged the Agriculture Department and the Food and Drug Administration to make complying with the Chinese rules a priority.

NMPF and USDEC also noted that negotiations are under way between China and the European Union over geographical indications. The two groups expressed “deep concern” about the impact of these negotiations on U.S. exports to China and particularly on opportunities to expand the range of products sold in the rapidly evolving Chinese market. 

Dairy producers have more than a month — until November 20 — to sign up for 2016 coverage under the dairy Margin Protection Program.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack extended the enrollment period under the dairy safety net program on September 22, a week after NMPF expressed concern that the original Sept. 30 deadline coincided with the fall harvest in many areas and also with the enrollment deadline for USDA’s Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage programs.

“A similar extension last fall greatly helped to boost enrollment in MPP for 2015,” said NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern. “This extension should likewise enhance participation in the program for 2016.”

To help farmers make decisions, NMPF has updated tools at www.FutureforDairy.com, a website serving as a clearinghouse for MPP information. Included is a calculator allowing farmers to estimate future margins based on their forecasts of feed and milk prices.

MPP helps protect against the kind of catastrophic losses that many farmers experienced in 2009 and again in 2012. It allows farmers to insure the difference between milk prices and feed costs. Producers insure their operations on a sliding scale, deciding both how much of their production to cover and the level of margin to protect.

Slightly more than half of U.S. dairy operations signed up in the first MPP enrollment period last fall. The program has issued payments to those with the maximum $8 coverage in each of four bi-monthly coverage windows this year. Under the previous Milk Income Loss Contract program, no payments would have been authorized so far this year. 

Cooperatives Working Together member cooperatives last month captured 52 contracts to sell 13.104 million pounds of dairy products to customers in 19 countries. The 3.4 million pounds of American-type cheeses, 6.5 million pounds of butter and 3.2 pounds of whole milk powder will be shipped from September 2015 through March 2016.

These sales contracts bring the 2015 CWT totals through August to 47.1 million pounds of cheese, 25.7 million pounds of butter, and 35.6 million pounds of whole milk powder. In total, CWT assisted transactions will move the equivalent of 1.272 billion pounds of milk, on a milkfat basis, to customers in 35 countries on five continents. These totals are adjusted for contract cancellations.

Developed by NMPF, CWT is a voluntary export assistance program supported by dairy farmers producing 70 percent of the nation’s milk. By helping to move U.S. dairy products into world markets, CWT helps keep maintain and grow U.S. dairy farmers share of these expanding markets which, in turn, keeps dairy farmer milk prices at reasonable levels.

NMPF staff played leadership roles in September at the 2015 International Dairy Federation (IDF), World Dairy Summit (WDE) held in Vilnius, Lithuania. Before the Summit even started, NMPF staff were active in representing the interests of U.S. dairy farmers and cooperatives in the IDF business meetings, discussing important topics including international trade, process cheese standards, farm management issues, antimicrobial stewardship, animal health, environment and sustainability, food safety, and animal care.

Due in large part to NMPF’s contributions, several staff were nominated to take leadership roles on several of IDF’s standing committees. Dr. Jamie Jonker, Vice President of Scientific Affairs, was elected as Chair of IDF’s Farm Management Committee. Emily Meredith, Vice President of Animal Care, was elected as Deputy Chair of the Standing Committee on Residues and Chemical Contaminants. Shawna Morris, Vice President Trade Policy, shown above, will also remain as Vice-Chair for US-IDF for another term.

NMPF spotlighted the U.S. dairy industry successes during the WDS, as well. Dr. Jonker presented during the Animal Health and Welfare Conference on the “Antibiotic Stewardship in the United States Dairy Industry,” showcasing the efforts underway to ensure judicious use of antibiotics by America’s farmers. During the same session, Meredith discussed the National Dairy FARM animal care program in a presentation titled “Addressing animal care concerns and building consumer trust through ‘responsible sourcing’ guidelines for dairy producers.”

At the Dairy Farming Conference during the poster session, Dr. Jonker highlighted the on-going preparedness efforts for “A secure milk supply plan for a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in the United States.” During the same Conference, he moderated a panel discussion about risk management on dairy farms, where Morris discussed the new dairy Margin Protection Program. Dr. Jonker also moderated the first IDF Dairy Farm

ers Forum, where dairy farmers from around the

 world discussed common issues of economic, social, and environmental sustainability.

In addition to highlighting the great things happening on U.S. dairy farms, the WDS provided an excellent opportunity for NMPF staff to network and engage with experts from numerous countries. Staff in attendance brought back many ideas that will help inform and improve many NMPF programs. 

In early September, the Food and Drug Administration published final versions of two of the longest and most important regulations to be issued under the 2011 rewrite of the nation’s food safety laws.  The regulations spell out good manufacturing practices and preventive controls for producing both human food and food for animals. The human food regulation is 900 pages and the animal food regulation is 600 pages.  NMPF staff currently are reviewing the documents.

The regulations require facilities producing both human and animal food to develop written plans indicating possible problems affecting the safety of their products and the steps they would take to prevent or minimize those problems.

NMPF has been involved in the development of these regulations over several years, advocating on behalf of the dairy industry. A conference call or webinar will be scheduled with NMPF members later this month to review key aspects of the regulations. 

What do the Secretary of Agriculture, former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz, and a world-renowned magician have in common?

All are appearing at NMPF’s annual meeting at the Marriott World Center in Orlando October 26-28. The 2015 meeting agenda, which is nearly complete, also includes a marketing expert specializing in millennials, and panel discussions on two of the hottest issues in dairy farming, humane animal care and renewable energy.

NMPF’s annual meeting is held jointly with the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board and the United Dairy Industry Association. The core general session program opens Tuesday, October 27, with the three-hour NMPF Town Hall, at which attendees learn about the Federation’s activities and question staff on the future of the dairy industry.

Millennial marketing expert Jeff Fromm, president of FutureCast, speaks after lunch Tuesday, followed by the panel discussion animal care. Invited panelists include representatives from McDonalds, Starbucks, Kroger supermarkets and Schreiber Foods. Chobani and Walmart are confirmed.

After the panel discussion, NMPF Chairman Randy Mooney and President and CEO Jim Mulhern will present their report on the Federation and its priorities and that evening a Welcome to Florida reception will feature the winners of NMPF’s annual cheese contest.

Wednesday, October 28, opens with the renewable energy panel discussion, featuring Steve Rowe, CEO of Newtrient LLC, a consortium of organizations dedicated to reducing dairy’s environmental footprint. Among other things, Newtrient LLC, helps dairy farmers capture economic value from agricultural by-products.

Tom Vilsack, the longest serving agriculture secretary in nearly 50 years, speaks later in the morning, followed by Tom Gallagher, CEO of Dairy Management Inc.

Holtz, one of the most successful college football coaches of all time and a former ESPN analyst, is the closing lunch speaker and magician Bill Herz is the entertainment for the evening banquet.  

In between these major events are board meetings, a dairy bar, networking and sightseeing opportunities, and a raffle to raise money for NMPF’s scholarship program.

Reservations at the Marriot World Center are still available on a space and rate available basis. Attendees can register for the meeting up to the last minute, but a late fee will be charged. See NMPF’s website for the latest registration and hotel information.