Tag: supply chain dairy

NMPF and USDEC Discuss Recent Shipping Challenges with FMC Chairman Maffei

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) met with Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) Chairman Daniel Maffei today to discuss the implementation of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act and ongoing shipping challenges. Several dairy company executives from a working group addressing export supply-chain issues joined NMPF and USDEC.

Exports play a significant role in the success of American dairy farms and manufacturing facilities. Currently, the milk from one in six tankers leaving U.S. farms ends up abroad in the form of exported milk powder, cheese and other dairy products.

USDEC and NMPF members have made it clear that exporters are still encountering high costs, fees, and unreliable scheduling. Collaboration between the agricultural industry and federal agencies such as the FMC is crucial to building a supply chain that works for American suppliers and consumers around the world.

“We have an excellent opportunity to bring American dairy products to many more markets around the world now and in the coming years,” stated Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “To do that, we will need better service from the entire ocean freight system. We’re confident in Chairman Maffei’s leadership of the FMC and value the agency’s critical role in ensuring that international shipping is a two-way street, not merely a superhighway for imported goods.”

“We appreciate Chairman Maffei for his leadership, and for taking the time to discuss recent shipping challenges,” said Krysta Harden, president and CEO of USDEC. “This is a tumultuous time in ocean shipping, but we’re confident that there’s more we can do together to ease the burden that the dairy sector is facing.”

Supply Chain Needs Outlined by NMPF, USDEC to Administration

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

NMPF and USDEC, with input from their joint export supply chain working group, took multiple steps last month to tout additional actions the U.S. government could take to help address the supply chain issues plaguing dairy exporters.

Highlighting the efforts were comments the two organizations submitted to the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) on April 14 concerning detention and demurrage billing requirements. The comments outlined a series of nine recommendations for rulemaking focused on upgrading carriers’ information requirements related to detention and demurrage — measures that would help correct the current information power imbalance that favors carriers.

NMPF and USDEC also sent a letter April 21 to Secretary Tom Vilsack and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg recommending five additional tools that could provide supply chain relief and support to dairy farmers and exporters. The leading recommendation called for USDA’s Agriculture Marketing Service (AMS) to restart its Ocean Shipping Container Availability Report (OSCAR) which previously detailed the availability of ocean shipping containers at locations across the United States on a weekly basis. NMPF export supply chain working group members have underscored the usefulness of this report and urged its reactivation.

Shortly thereafter, NMPF joined a coalition of agricultural associations in an April 25 letter to Director of the National Economic Council Brian Deese, Secretary Vilsack and Secretary Buttigieg, asking the administration to coordinate a meeting between exporters and ocean carriers to foster progress on export shipping access.

While these immediate steps could help deliver much-needed immediate relief, NMPF also remains focused on advancing longer-term legislative efforts to heighten the oversight of ocean shipping practices and mandate reforms.

The Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA)– now passed by both the U.S. House and Senate – is headed to conference to reconcile differences in the two versions. NMPF and USDEC played a key role in shaping the text for both versions and securing bipartisan support, but the work continues to ensure the provisions that would deliver the most tangible solutions are retained in a final bill.

The most likely route forward is through the conference process slated to begin in May on a China competitiveness legislative package of which OSRA is a part. NMPF joined an April 20 letter from a broad coalition of U.S. exporting organizations to the conferees, urging the inclusion of the more prescriptive provisions unreasonable carrier behavior.