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Proposed Dairy Import Promotion Assessment Draws Praise, Criticism
Washington—The proposed rule that will expand the dairy promotion and research assessment to cover imported dairy products has garnered a significant number of both favorable and unfavorable comments.
USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) published the proposed rule last month. A 30-day comment period ended late last week.
National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), which has supported extending the promotion assessment to dairy imports for a number of years, urged USDA to “swiftly consider constructive comments” on the proposed rule and “move as quickly as possible to publish a final rule.”
A number of dairy cooperatives also called for USDA to swiftly publish a final rule, including Upstate Niagara Cooperative, Tillamook County Creamery Association, Dairylea, Foremost Farms, Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative, Michigan Milk Producers Association, Land O’Lakes, St. Albans Cooperative Creamery, and Cooperative Milk Producers Association.
Also urging USDA to implement the import assessment as soon as possible was the South East Dairy Farmers Association, whose member organizations include, among others, Arkansas Dairy Cooperative Association,Dairymen’s Marketing Cooperative, Lone Star Milk Producers, and Piedmont Milk Sales.
Both NMPF and Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) called for USDA to publish a periodic report on the import assessment collection process. Information on products imported by tariff code or grouping of codes as well as country of origin would be the type of information expected by the dairy industry, DFA said.
The US Dairy Export Council (USDEC) also wants USDA to “proceed promptly to publish a final rule.”
Regarding trade compliance concerns that have arisen over the years over the extension of the promotion assessment to imported dairy products, USDEC noted that, as an organization “whose sole focus is on growing and safeguarding export markets for US dairy products, USDEC would be the first to point out reservations with a proposal that could put at risk our exports or US compliance with its trade agreement obligations.
“It is clear, however, that no such concern exists at this stage with this proposed rule,” USDEC stated. “By way of direct export impact, if other countries in the future decided to implement similar promotion programs, the effect on US exports would be minimal and as such has not been a substantive concern for USDEC members.”
But some opponents of the import assessment believe it violates US trade obligations. For example, both Dairy Australia and the Australian government said the method of calculating the assessment on imported dairy products (based on the estimated milk solids content of imported products) would result in less favorable treatment for imported dairy products inconsistent with Article III of the GATT.
Among other things, the Aus-...more
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