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NPPC expresses support for Ag Sec. Schafer

Groups urge Congress to Pass Columbia Trade Deal

January 29, 2008

NPPC expresses support for Ag Sec. Schafer

The National Pork Producers Council today expressed its strong support for new U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer, whom the Senate confirmed Monday afternoon.

The former North Dakota governor succeeds Mike Johanns, who stepped down in September to run for the U.S. Senate seat from Nebraska, being vacated by Republican Chuck Hagel. USDA Deputy Secretary Chuck Conner served as Acting Secretary beginning Sept. 20.

“Ed Schafer will make a fine Secretary of Agriculture, and the pork industry looks forward to working with him,” said NPPC President Jill Appell, a pork producer from Altona, Ill. “America’s pork producers will strongly support Secretary Schafer as he tackles issues of importance to the U.S. hog industry, including trade agreements, animal identification and the Farm Bill.”

One of Schafer’s first tasks is to help get a Farm Bill through a House-Senate conference committee that’s trying to work out differences in competing bills. The Bush administration has threatened to veto any Farm Bill that raises taxes, which the current measures do. The White House also says neither bill does enough to limit payments to wealthy farmers and is urging Congress to adopt a proposal that would ban subsidies to farmers whose gross income exceeds an average of $200,000 a year.

Schafer served two terms as North Dakota’s governor, holding the office from 1992 to 2000. In 1999, he served as the co-lead on agriculture for the National Governors Association and in 2000 led an agricultural trade mission from North Dakota to China to help open new markets for his state’s farm products.

Schafer, who holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of North Dakota and an MBA from the University of Denver, most recently was CEO of Extend America, a start-up wireless communications firm. He also was president of the Gold Seal Co., a household products company founded by his father, and he founded Fish 'N Dakota, a fish farming business near Beulah, N.D.

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January 28, 2008

Groups Urge Congress To Pass Colombia Trade Deal

The Agriculture Coalition for Latin American Trade, which includes the National Pork Producers Council and 41 other food and agricultural organizations, today sent a letter to Congress urging passage of the Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement, which will open to U.S. producers a market of 43 million consumers. The agreement also will put U.S. producers on an equal footing with their counterparts in Colombia. Most products from Colombia, as well as Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru, have duty-free access into the United States through the Andean Trade Preference Act, which in June Congress extended. The letter appears below.

January 28, 2008

Dear Member of Congress:

We, the undersigned organizations and businesses, representing U.S. farmers, ranchers, food processors, agri-businesses and exporters, wish to express our appreciation to members of the House and Senate for the recent approval of the Peru Trade Promotion Agreement. Our economy, workers and farmers will profit from the agreement. This is equally true of the Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement (TPA), and we urge you to take up the Colombia TPA as soon as possible.

The Colombia and Peru trade agreements are nearly identical and have been skillfully negotiated on behalf of U.S. agriculture. Many U.S. food and agricultural products will become eligible for duty-free treatment immediately upon entry into force of the agreement, and the remainder will receive duty-free treatment upon full implementation. Under the Colombia TPA, U.S. beef, cotton, wheat, soybeans, soybean meal, apples, pears, peaches, cherries and many processed food products will receive immediate duty-free treatment, while corn, poultry, fruits and vegetables and dairy products will benefit immediately from improved market access.

The TPA will correct an inequity that exists between U.S. exporters of agricultural and industrial products and Colombian exporters. While 90 percent of Colombian products currently shipped to the United States are free from tariffs, most U.S. exports face significant tariffs or other restrictions in Colombia. This inequity is due in part to the Andean Trade Preference and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA), which Congress recently extended by an overwhelming majority. Passage of the Colombia TPA is the only way to resolve this inequity and “level the playing field” in our trade relations with Colombia.

The agreement will strengthen our economic ties with and promote greater political stability in Colombia, benefiting our two nations and the hemisphere. Colombia’s government is on the right track on labor and other issues, and its people support this trade agreement. They clearly recognize that any trade deal must provide economic benefits to the United States or it cannot gain political approval. Colombians also understand that by providing more open access to their market, they are solidifying our bilateral relationship and their own prosperity.

As a strong ally, Colombia deserves our continued economic and political backing. This can be demonstrated by Congress taking up and passing the Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement implementing legislation as soon as possible in 2008.

Sincerely,