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NMPF Works to Preserve Market Access to the European Union

December 6, 2021

After months of dedicated work by NMPF and USDEC, both organizations welcomed USDA’s Agriculture Marketing Service (AMS) Nov. 22 announcement to add the new EU dairy certificates, as well as the associated transit versions of each dairy certificate, to its ATLAS system. AMS plans to begin issuing the new dairy certificates in early December.

The European Union has long sought to stymie market access for dairy imports through a litany of nontariff barriers, including complex certification requirements. The late 2020 announcement of new EU certificates for dairy products and composite products (i.e., processed foods containing both animal sourced ingredients) were yet another hurdle that had the potential to completely choke off U.S. access to that market. NMPF and USDEC adopted a multi-track approach to the issue:

  • Successfully working with the U.S. government and Congress to secure a compliance approach that did not impose onerous new burdens on dairy farmers and manufacturers as well an initial delay of the certificate implementation date; and
  • Ensuring that USDA was equipped with the authorization and tools necessary ensure that the certificates could be issued well ahead of the extended deadline to avoid shipping delay problems. These efforts helped ensure that the certificates could be implemented in a timely manner even as the U.S. government continues to work to resolve challenges in other product areas so that dairy trade to and through the European Union can continue uninterrupted.