Tag: dairy exports

U.S. Dairy Endorses Ocean Shipping Antitrust Enforcement Act

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

In response to last week’s introduction of the Ocean Shipping Antitrust Enforcement Act, USDEC and NMPF released the following statements:

Krysta Harden, U.S. Dairy Export Council president & CEO:
The U.S. Dairy Export Council thanks Representatives Costa, Smith, Garamendi and Johnson for introducing the bipartisan Ocean Shipping Antitrust Enforcement Act last week. U.S. dairy exporters experience a litany of unfair practices from foreign-owned ocean carriers – including unprecedented shipping rates, fees often incurred out of the exporters’ control, intentional lack of transparency, and continually rolled bookings. Due to the high concentration of power in the largely foreign-owned shipping industry, American dairy exporters have little option other than to accept these unwarranted fees and delays as a business expense. We commend the introduction of this important legislation to revoke the antitrust immunity that these shipping lines exploit at the expense of American producers and consumers, and we urge Congress to expeditiously pass this measure into law.

Jim Mulhern, National Milk Producers Federation president & CEO:
At a time when ocean carriers have been enjoying record profits, U.S. dairy producers have been bearing the brunt of the export supply chain crisis, with over $1.5 billion in added costs and lost sales in 2021 alone. We welcome the introduction of the Ocean Shipping Antitrust Enforcement Act that would reign in the enormous power foreign-owned shipping lines wield over American exporters. It has been evident over the past two years that ocean carriers do not share the interest of U.S. producers and are willing to break contracts and cancel shipments without warning. International customers want U.S. dairy products, but American dairy farmers are struggling to meet deadlines due to carrier behavior and justify the increased expense of paying exorbitant fees. This puts at risk key relationships with buyers around the world. NMPF encourages swift passage of this bipartisan legislation to put a halt to these unreasonable practices.

February CWT-Assisted Dairy Export Sales Continue Strong Start to 2022

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

CWT member cooperatives secured 105 contracts in February, adding 14.9 million pounds of American-type cheeses, 12.2 million pounds of whole milk powder and 1.4 million pounds of cream cheese to CWT-assisted sales in 2022. These products will go customers in Asia, Central America, Middle East-North Africa, Oceania and South America, and will be shipped from February through August 2022.

CWT-assisted 2022 dairy product sales contracts year-to-date total 29.9 million pounds of American-type cheese, 3.1 million pounds of cream cheese and 14.1 million pounds of whole milk powder. This brings the total milk equivalent for the year to 402 million pounds on a milkfat basis. Over the last 12 months, CWT assisted sales are the equivalent of 1.483 billion pounds of milk on a milkfat basis.

Exporting dairy products is critical to the viability of dairy farmers and their cooperatives across the country. Whether or not a cooperative is actively engaged in exporting cheese, butter, anhydrous milkfat, cream cheese, or whole milk powder, moving products into world markets is essential. CWT provides a means to move domestic dairy products to overseas markets by helping to overcome U.S. dairy’s trade disadvantages.

NMPF Campaigning for Quick Senate Action on Ocean Shipping Reform Act

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

NMPF’s work to advance key export supply chain legislation made significant progress with the Senate introduction of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA) on Feb. 3, companion legislation to a House-passed measure meant to take strides to alleviate the supply chain crisis that is impeding dairy exports.

The bill introduced by key dairy allies Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Sen. John Thune (R-SD) comes after months of NMPF effort. While there are some differences between the two bills, the trade policy team continues its work with the Senate to strengthen the measure further as it advances through Congress.

NMPF has launched a grassroots campaign to demonstrate the bill’s support among a broad base of constituents. NMPF members, friends and allies can ask their Senators to ensure its passage here.

As part of NMPF’s multi-prong strategy to alleviate the export supply chain congestion, the trade policy team, together with agriculture coalition allies, also met Feb. 4 with the White House National Economic Council to discuss export supply chain concerns and work to identify additional solutions, reiterating its recommendation that the administration consider suspension of “box rules” that limit ag shippers’ ability to mix and match containers and chassis equipment and discussed other potential strategies to alleviate the crisis.

NMPF staff also joined a small group of agricultural organizations in a Feb. 22 meeting with White House Port Envoy John Porcari to further discuss potential changes to the box rules, urge the administration to replicate the Port of Oakland pop-up site designated for staging agricultural exports and explore options to increase data transparency for U.S. exporters.

Pathways to Expand Trade Under Pursuit

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

While movement by the administration to resume comprehensive trade negotiations remains lacking, NMPF continues pursuing multiple pathways and outlining steps to government officials that can be taken to expand market access for U.S. dairy exports.

NMPF president and CEO Jim Mulhern participated in a Feb. 10 agricultural CEO discussion with U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai focused on the sector’s trade priorities and market barriers around the world, including the growing disadvantage U.S. agricultural exporters face in key markets as trade competitors negotiate free trade agreements and the United States doesn’t.

NMPF is continuing to press for the U.S. government to pursue comprehensive trade agreements, particularly with key dairy markets such as those in Southeast Asia and the United Kingdom, given that the administration is more focused currently on pursuing non-FTA trade initiatives. As a result, NMPF’s trade policy team is urging the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to use additional, alternative avenues to expand trade – addressing tariff and nontariff barriers – that can fill in gaps in trade opportunities until FTAs can be inked.

NMPF and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) submitted confidential recommendations to USTR earlier on Feb. 8, addressing areas of prime opportunity across a variety of high-priority markets. NMPF urged the administration to use trade tools such as Trade and Investment Framework Agreements and the fledgling Indo-Pacific Economic Framework to address the regulatory and policy challenges identified. NMPF is also encouraging a greater focus on lowering Most Favored Nation tariffs in key markets to put U.S. dairy exporters on a more level playing field.

NMPF and USDEC Applaud Record U.S. Dairy Exports in 2021

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

On behalf of U.S. dairy producers and manufacturers, the National Milk Producers Federation and the U.S. Dairy Export Council lauded the industry’s decades of work that’s led to a record year for U.S. dairy exports after the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced record sales of $7.75 billion in 2021, accounting for over 17% of U.S. milk production.

“The record demand for U.S. milk overseas in 2021 is a testament to the hard work and dedication of U.S. dairy farmers and the entire industry to making sure our high-quality, nutritious products feed the world as well as Americans,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation. “As we’ve said many times, exports represent the next frontier for U.S. dairy – it’s gratifying to see decades of effort bear fruit and only makes us more excited about the future successes ahead.”

“Outstanding results like last year’s record-setting $7.75 billion in U.S. dairy exports don’t happen overnight. They’re the result of a lot of hard work by our industry to build demand for U.S. dairy products around the world and harness the opportunities that past trade deals – from U.S. free trade agreements to the World Trade Organization’s Uruguay Round – have made available,” said Krysta Harden, president and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council. “We look forward to continuing to build on this success further and to ensure we have the right trade and export supply chain policy tools to support that growth.”

Exports may have reached even higher levels had U.S. exporters not been battered by supply chain challenges that drove up costs and complexity of delivering dairy products to foreign customers. The U.S. dairy industry will need proactive trade policies that remove barriers to trade and ensure that U.S. dairy farmers and manufacturers are equipped to compete on a level playing field, the organizations added.

Trade Advocates Turn Up Volume on Supply Chain Challenges

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

Export supply chain challenges persisted as 2022 began, as did NMPF’s work, together with the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC), to spotlight the disruptions faced by dairy exporters to build momentum for government action.

NMPF’s focus on the issue in January continued its two-track approach of pushing for both legislative reform and near-term steps by the administration to complement that.

NMPF co-hosted an Agri-Pulse press event with USDEC on Jan. 31 to assess and discuss solutions to agricultural export supply chain snarls. The hybrid event, held at the National Press Club, featured a panel of industry speakers impacted by the agricultural export supply chain concerns, including USDEC member Leprino Foods, and a government panel of USDA Secretary Vilsack; John Porcari, the Biden Administration’s Supply Chain Ports Envoy; and Ocean Shipping Reform Act lead sponsors Congressmen John Garamendi (D-CA) and Dusty Johnson (R-SD).

“We hope to be able to make sure that people understand this isn’t just an import issue, it’s also an export issue,” Vilsack said at the event.  “And the Department of Agriculture wants to be part of the solution.”

The event, which had more than 1,200 RVSPs from industry professionals, advocates and media outlets, provided the opportunity to refocus attention on how supply chain challenges are affecting exports. NMPF conducted outreach to multiple news outlets to foster robust coverage of those aspects nationwide, gaining attention from Bloomberg News and the Hagstrom Report to the Bakersfield Californian.

The webinar followed a Jan. 27 CEO roundtable discussion hosted by Sec. Vilsack that included two NMPF members – Dairy Farmers of America and California Dairies Inc. –to examine what other steps the Administration could take to mitigate the export supply chain snarls still plaguing dairy and other agricultural exporters.

The events took place as NMPF worked to build support in the Senate for companion legislation to the House of Representatives-passed Ocean Shipping Reform Act. The Senate bill planned for introduction early this month by Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and John Thune (R-SD) reflects many of the key provisions NMPF worked to secure in the House bill. To build on that positive starting point, NMPF is urging some targeted improvements as the legislation proceeds through the Congressional process.

NMPF also built support for a robust bipartisan message to President Biden urging him to take several near-term steps allowed under current law to provide further relief to agricultural exporters. The House letter, led by Reps. Jim Costa (D-CA) and Dusty Johnson (R-SD), garnered 71 signatures. NMPF worked closely with Congressional offices to help craft the letter’s messages.

NMPF’s Bjerga on Dairy Sales, Gruyere

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

 

NMPF Senior Vice President for Communications Alan Bjerga discusses positive trends in retail dairy sales, along with the broader implications of a recent court win for U.S. cheesemakers, on WEKZ radio. Grocery-store sales of cheese, butter, yogurt and other dairy products are up over pre-pandemic levels, as a consumer return to reliable, high-quality products during the pandemic takes deeper roots.

NMPF’s Morris on U.S. Dairy’s Trade Win Over Canada

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

Shawna Morris, Senior Vice President for Trade with the National Milk Producers Federation and the U.S. Dairy Export Council, discusses U.S. dairy’s win over Canada in the first trade dispute ever brought before the USMCA’s dispute settlement panel on RFD-TV. The panel ruled against Canada in a case brought by the United States over its unfair allocation of quotas that limited U.S. dairy access to Canada agreed to as part of USMCA.

 

CWT-Assisted Dairy Export Sales for 2021 Reach Nearly 1.5 Billion Pounds

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

Despite not taking bids for two weeks during December breaks, CWT member cooperatives secured 41 contracts in December adding 3.5 million pounds of American-type cheeses, 105,000 pounds of butter, 44,000 pounds of whole milk powder, 767,000 pounds of cream cheese and 300,000 pounds of anhydrous milkfat to CWT-assisted sales in 2021. These products will go customers in the Caribbean, Asia, Middle East-North Africa and South America, and will be shipped from December 2021 through June 2022.

CWT-assisted dairy product sales contracts for 2021 total 53.1 million pounds of American-type cheese, 16 million pounds of butter, 6.4 million pounds of anhydrous milkfat, 12.2 million pounds of cream cheese and 45.1 million pounds of whole milk powder. This brings the total milk equivalent for the year to 1.447 billion pounds on a milkfat basis.

Exporting dairy products is critical to the viability of dairy farmers and their cooperatives across the country. Whether or not a cooperative is actively engaged in exporting cheese, butter, anhydrous milkfat, cream cheese, or whole milk powder, moving products into world markets is essential. CWT provides a means to move domestic dairy products to overseas markets by helping to overcome U.S. dairy’s trade disadvantages.

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.

USDEC and NMPF Applaud USDA, DOT Strong Message of Support for Agricultural Exporters

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

On behalf of dairy farmers and manufacturers across the country, the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) praised yesterday’s strong message from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) urging the world’s leading ocean carriers to reform their practices to provide better service to U.S. agricultural exporters. The letter specifically referenced the need to expand use of available West Coast terminal capacity and to “restore reciprocal treatment of imports and exports [which] is inherent in trade.”

USDEC and NMPF repeatedly met with USDA and DOT officials as well as the White House over the past several months to urge a greater Administration focus on the shipping supply chain crisis’s impact on agricultural exporters. The dairy organizations have urged the Administration to call out profiteering by foreign-owned carriers at the expense of dairy exporters and take steps to address the supply chain crisis that’s cost the dairy industry $1.3 billion over just the first three quarters of 2021.

Yesterday’s letter was a key step in the right direction and builds on last week’s successful passage of House legislation designed to curb some of the bad-faith practices by ocean carriers. USDA and DOT noted that, “This imbalance is not sustainable and contributes to the logjam of empty containers clogging ports. The poor service and refusal to serve customers when the empty containers are clearly available are unacceptable and, if not resolved quickly, may require further examination and action by the Federal Maritime Commission.”

“Dairy exporters are enduring tremendous challenges in getting their high-quality products to customers in overseas markets, which puts our industry’s reputation as a reliable supplier at risk. Our competitors in the European Union and Oceania are eager to swoop in and scoop up those sales,” said Krysta Harden, president and CEO of USDEC. “USDEC commends the Administration’s recognition that the current situation facing our dairy exporters cannot continue and strongly supports further steps by the Federal Maritime Commission and other Administration entities to drive change swiftly.”

“Dairy farmers and their cooperatives have invested significantly in painstakingly cultivating export markets to help meet the growing global demand for dairy. This year’s shipping supply chain crisis has created enormous upheaval in maintaining those sales, which are so critical to the overall demand for American milk,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “Dairy farmers strongly support USDA and DOT’s castigation of ocean shippers’ abusive practices and urge the Administration to take the steps necessary to bring about meaningful reforms in export access for our dairy industry.”

Both organizations formed an Export Supply Chain Working Group earlier this year and have worked on a range of initiatives to address the shipping crisis including the passage of HR 4996 and work to drive further Congressional advancement of this legislation. Steps by the Administration to fully use all existing authorities are a crucial complement to that ongoing legislative reform effort.

Ports Progress Critical, NMPF’s Rice Says

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

Overwhelming support received last week in the U.S. House of Representatives for badly needed shipping-policy reforms is a crucial step, but far from the only one needed, to ensure reliable exports of U.S. dairy products to growing overseas markets, said Tony Rice, trade policy manager for NMPF and the U.S. Dairy Export Council, in a Dairy Defined podcast released today.

Since the Ocean Shipping Reform Act passed the House last week, “We are focused on keeping up that pressure and ensuring both in Congress and both with the administration that there are fixes out there and the fixes are not just a one-time or one-off, that these are going to be some fundamental reforms that are much needed in this industry to ensure that this situation doesn’t happen again,” Rice said.

Rice explains the complexities of challenges facing U.S. port traffic, with ships experiencing powerful financial incentives to quickly travel to Asia without carrying farm exports necessary to boost rural incomes and the U.S. economy. Rice also explains why public policy changes are essential, and how NMPF is working for full congressional package of reforms. The full podcast is here. You can also find the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts. Broadcast outlets may use the MP3 file below. Please attribute information to NMPF.

NMPF Works to Preserve Market Access to the European Union

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

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.