<march2010>

PRESS RELEASES 2010

March

China lifts H1N1-related ban on U.S. pork

Producers want trucking issue with Mexico resolved

NPPC applauds re-opening of Russian market

Pass FTAs to spur job growth, says coalition

China lifts H1N1-related ban on U.S. pork

March 19, 2010 - The United States and China have reached an agreement to reopen the Chinese market to U.S. pork imports, action that should help struggling U.S. pork producers, said the National Pork Producers Council. Pork trade will resume immediately once both sides finalize export documentation.

The Asian nation implemented closed its market to U.S. pork in late April in the wake of an outbreak in humans of novel H1N1 influenza, which the media misnamed “swine” flu.

“This is great news for U.S. pork producers,” said NPPC President Sam Carney, a pork producer from Adair, Iowa. “China is one of our biggest markets, so being able to ship pork there is extremely important to the U.S. pork industry, which has been hurting economically for more than two years now. With the lifting of the H1N1 ban on U.S. pork, we will focus on the remaining impediments to exporting U.S. pork to China."

The U.S. pork industry shipped nearly 400,000 metric tons of pork worth nearly $690 million to China/Hong Kong in 2008, making it the No. 3 destination for U.S. pork. Last year, U.S. pork exports to China/Hong Kong were down by 38 percent, falling to just under $427 million.

In October, at the conclusion of the annual U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade meeting, China announced that it would rescind its pork import ban. Since then, NPPC has worked closely with the Obama

administration to pressure the Chinese to actually lift their ban and begin accepting U.S. pork imports.

NPPC is continuing to urge the administration to press China to address a number of other trade-related issues that limit U.S. pork imports. Among those issues are China’s ban on U.S. pork produced with ractopamine – an FDA-approved feed additive that improves efficiency in pork production – subsidies China provides its domestic pork producers and a value-added tax it imposes on imports.

to top

Producers want trucking issue with Mexico resolved

March 15, 2010 - With rumors that the Mexican government may update a trade retaliation list against U.S. products, the National Pork Producers Council and state pork producer organizations today urged the Obama administration to resolve a dispute with Mexico over allowing its trucks into the United States.

Last March, the Mexican government imposed higher tariffs on an estimated $2.4 billion of U.S. goods after the U.S. Congress failed to renew a pilot program that allowed a limited number of Mexican trucking companies to work beyond the 25-mile commercial zone that was created in the United States.

NPPC, which worked to keep pork off that retaliation list, and 37 state producer associations in a letter to President Obama asked that the U.S. government live up to a provision in the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that allows Mexican trucks to haul freight into and out of the United States.

Mexican trucks had been operating in the United States under the Cross-Border Trucking Pilot Program, which was started by the U.S. Department of Transportation in September 2007 as a way to begin implementing the NAFTA trucking provision. That provision was supposed to begin in December 1995 and take full effect by Jan. 1, 2000.

Congress refused to renew the pilot program or to implement the NAFTA provision, citing concerns about the safety of Mexican trucks even though under the pilot program they were held to the same safety standards as U.S. trucks and were examined and cleared by U.S. inspectors. In February 2001, a NAFTA dispute-settlement panel ruled that the exclusion of Mexican trucks violated U.S. obligations under NAFTA. The ruling gave Mexico the right to retaliate against U.S. products entering Mexico.

“We need to get this trucking issue resolved,” said NPPC President Sam Carney, a pork producer from Adair, Iowa, “Mexico is an important market for U.S. pork, which right now isn’t on the retaliation list, but it could be. More importantly, this needs to be resolved so our trading partners have assurance that the United States will live up to its trade obligations.”

In 2009, the United States exported to Mexico more than 503,000 metric tons of pork worth more than $762 million, making it the No. 2 market for U.S. pork exports.

to top

NPPC elects new officers, board members

March 8, 2010 - The National Pork Producers Council, at its annual business meeting, the National Pork Industry Forum,, March 4-6 in Kansas City, Mo., elected new officers and members to its board of directors.

Taking over as president of the organization is Sam Carney, a producer from Adair, Iowa. Doug Wolf, owner of Wolf L & G Farms LLC in Lancaster, Wis., was elevated to president-elect; R.C. Hunt, a producer from Wilson, N.C., was elected to the vice president’s position.

Re-elected to the board for three-year terms in the producer category were Hunt; Larry Liepold from Okabena, Minn.; and Randy Spronk from Edgerton, Minn. Dr. Ron Prestage, DVM, from South Carolina was elected to a three-year term. Al Deutsch, with AP Division of Grain Systems Inc., was elected as NPPC’s allied industry representative.

“We have excellent leadership in Sam, Doug and R.C. and quality, dedicated industry representatives in the new board members who were elected,” said NPPC CEO Neil Dierks. “I know that all of them will work diligently and tirelessly on behalf of America’s pork producers.”

In addition to the newly elected and re-elected officers and board members, continuing as NPPC directors are: Gary Asay, from Osco, Ill.; Robert Dykhuis from Holland, Mich.; Howard Hill from Cambridge, Iowa; Mark Legan, from Coatesville, Ind.; and Bill Luckey, from Columbus, Neb. Todd Neff, with Tyson Fresh Meats, remains as the representative on NPPC’s Packer-Processor Industry Council. Don Butler, a pork producer from Clinton, N.C., and director of government relations and public affairs for Murphy-Brown LLC – the livestock production subsidiary of Smithfield Foods – will serve on the board as immediate past president.

Producers Phil Borgic from Illinois and Ray Summerlin from North Carolina were elected for one-year terms to NPPC’s Nominating Committee, which reviews the credentials of candidates for the organization’s board of directors.

to top

NPPC applauds re-opening of Russian market

March 5, 2010 - The National Pork Producers Council today applauded an agreement reached between the United States and Russia that will re-open the Russian market to U.S. pork. By the end of last year, Russia had delisted virtually all U.S. pork facilities, prohibiting them from shipping pork to the country.

“We are very pleased that Russia is re-opening its market to U.S. pork; it’s a very important destination for our products,” said NPPC President Don Butler. “NPPC also is very appreciative of the efforts of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Trade Representative in getting this deal done.”

In 2008, the United States shipped $476 million of pork to Russia, making that country the No. 5 market. Last year they fell to $289 million because of a several-months ban on U.S. pork over concerns about the H1N1 flu, the global economic downturn and Russia delisting a number of U.S. pork facilities.

Exports to Russia, which were just $7.6 million in 2003, have soared since the United States and Russia signed a meat agreement in 2004.

The United States agreed to develop a new veterinary certificate to ensure that U.S. pork exports meet specific Russian microbiological and tetracycline-group antibiotic residue requirements. U.S. plants that want to export to Russia must apply for approval with the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service. AMS, in collaboration with USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, has developed an Export Verification (EV) program for pork going to Russia to address specific product requirements.

“Our pork meets U.S. and international standards, so we did not see the need for the EV program,” said Butler. “But the Russians wanted the program, and we wanted to get back in the market.

“And while the re-opening of the Russian market is great news for our producers, we now need to get China to re-open its market to U.S. pork.”

China closed its market to U.S. pork in late April after the initial reports on the H1N1 flu outbreak. In December, China announced it would re-open its market but has yet to begin taking U.S. pork. It recently reached agreement with Canada to take that country’s pork.

“We’re losing pork sales to Canada and the European Union,” said Butler. “We need to get back into the Chinese market.”

to top

Pass FTAs to spur job growth, says coalition

March 1, 2010 - Pointing out that exports generate 8,000 U.S. jobs for every $1 billion of agricultural goods exported, an ad hoc coalition of food, feed and agricultural entities today urged Congress to promptly pass several pending free trade agreements.

Trade deals with Colombia, Panama and South Korea are awaiting congressional approval. Under each pact, many U.S. food and agricultural products would become eligible for duty-free treatment once the agreement is implemented and nearly all would receive duty-free treatment over specified phase-in periods.

In a letter signed by 57 companies and organizations, the coalition – led by the National Pork Producers Council – asked lawmakers to “heed the President’s call to aggressively expand market access opportunities, as our competitors are doing.”

Congress must act on the pending agreements soon, said the coalition, because other countries are moving forward on a host of trade deals. South Korea, for example, has concluded, is negotiating or is planning to enter talks on trade agreements with 11 countries, the European Union and blocs representing southeast Asian and South American nations.

In addition to adding to the bottom line of producers – U.S. pork producers, for example, would see hog prices rise by $11 a head under the South Korea agreement – the trade pacts would generate thousands of U.S. jobs.

According to U.S. Department of Agriculture figures, 2008’s $115.4 billion of U.S. agricultural exports supported 920,000 full-time civilian jobs, including 608,000 non-farm jobs. Those economic benefits, the coalition pointed out, flow not only to rural communities but also to people working in transportation, processing and at ports.

In its letter, the coalition said it “strongly supports” President Obama’s pledge, made in his Jan. 27 State of the Union address, to double U.S. exports within five years as a way to create millions of new jobs.

The coalition also expressed concern about legislation (H.R. 3012 and S. 2821) that would require the administration to demand the re-negotiation of all current or pending trade agreements.

to top