White House releases text of TPP

The White House posted the text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement on Nov. 5, prompting the start of a public review process of the deal between Australia, Brunei, Chile, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam.  U.S. poultry producers have long been advocates of free and fair trade, currently exporting almost 20 percent of production, and expressed strong support upon the release of the text. 

"The National Chicken Council (NCC) applauds U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and his team of negotiators for their years of work on the TPP, and urge expeditious congressional approval," said NCC President Mike Brown. "The TPP represents a commercially meaningful and high standard agreement that will open markets and increase U.S. chicken exports and bring increased economic benefits to chicken farmers and companies across the country.  Without it, U.S. chicken exports to the TPP region will face a significant competitive disadvantage."  
USA Poultry & Egg Export Council President Jim Sumner added, "With Canada, Vietnam and Japan already some of our most important markets, this should provide a great opportunity to expand U.S. poultry exports.  Our industry is most appreciative of the emphasis given to all of our products during the lengthy negotiation process by the USTR team."
The following provisions of the agreement are of special importance to U.S. broiler producers:  
Japan
The United States exported $128 million of poultry and poultry products to Japan in 2014. Japan's tariffs are currently as high as 21.3 percent, or 48 yen per kilogram, whichever is greater (approximately 24.1 percent ad valorem equivalent). Under the TPP agreement, tariffs on all poultry, eggs, and egg products will be eliminated in 6-13 years.

The United States is the dominant supplier of frozen poultry leg exports to Japan. The United States holds a 95-percent market share, valued at $41 million in 2014. Japan's current 8.5-percent tariff on frozen poultry legs will be eliminated within 11 years. Tariffs on fresh and frozen cuts, currently as high as 11.9 percent, will be eliminated in 6-11 years.
Vietnam
The United States exported $92.7 million of poultry and poultry products to Vietnam in 2014. Vietnam's tariffs on poultry and poultry meat, currently as high as 40 percent, will be eliminated within 13 years.  This includes tariffs on frozen chicken cuts and offal, which will be eliminated in 11 years.

Canada
Canada will establish new TPP-wide, duty-free TRQs for chicken, turkey, eggs, egg products, and hatching eggs and chicks. Over six years, the TRQs will grow by 23,500 metric tons (MT) for chicken and 1 million dozen for hatching eggs and chicks. After that, the TRQs will grow by one percent annually for 13 more years.  (The access level for chicken and chicken products TRQ negotiated under NAFTA is 7.5 percent of Canada's previous year's domestic chicken production as reported by Statistics Canada: 77,025 MT in 2012 and over 80,000 MT in 2014.)

Finally, the agreement includes a sanitary and phytosanitary measures section meant to prevent countries from using standards for food safety and animal and plant health as trade barriers.  NCC and USAPEEC have long been advocates of achieving a strong commitment on enforcement, in particular in the area of sanitary and phytosanitary measures.

South Africa: US poultry trade proposal unreasonable

National Chicken Council

The South African Poultry Association says a proposal from the U.S. poultry industry to resolve trade issues is not good enough.




From WATTAgNet:

The South African Poultry Association (SAPA) has balked at a proposal from the U.S. poultry industry aimed at resolving the ongoing impasse over U.S. poultry imports into South Africa, saying the U.S. proposal is essentially asking South Africa to shrink its economy.

The U.S. poultry industry has been working to get South Africa to eliminate antidumping duties placed on the import of U.S. poultry products. The duties have been in place for fourteen years.

SAPA CEO Kevin Lovell said his organization will respond to the latest offer by its U.S. counterpart, the USA Poultry & Egg Export Council (USAPEEC), as the two organizations try to resolve a trade dispute that threatens to end South Africa’s participation in the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) trade scheme.

Lovell said the industry body would also be repeating its invitation to continue discussions with USAPEEC and the National Chicken Council of the U.S. in South Africa.

Lovell dismissed claims that SAPA was holding up efforts to resolve the trade dispute.

“As the duties are lawfully in place the best solution for the dispute is that the two industries find some reasonable compromise,” said Lovell. “We have been twice to the USA, they have yet to come here, and it is time for some sunshine discussions.”

According to Lovell, the current U.S. offer would remove the equivalent of the third-largest producer from the South African market. “That is both unreasonable and unacceptable,” he said.

U.S. political leaders, including Sen. Chris Coons, D-Delaware, and Johnny Isakson, R-Georgia, have called the duties unfair and have urged the South African government to remove the duties. The two senators wrote to South African President Jacob Zuma on the matter in December 2014.

Australia-South Korean free trade agreement takes effect Dec. 12

Australia’s Free Trade Agreement with South Korea (KAFTA) will come into force on December 12. The announcement that the agreement will be enacted was announced by Australian Trade and Investment Minister Andrew Robb, and has been applauded by the Australian pork industry and by members of Australia’s National Farmers’ Federation (NFF).
NFF President Brent Finlay said the early commencement of the trade agreement was an important achievement and enabled many Australian farmers to benefit from a tariff cut before the end of 2014 and another tariff cut on January 1, 2015.
“These tariff cuts will make Australian products more attractive in the Korean market against our competitors like the United States. It provides a platform to continue to expand farm exports to what is our third largest export market,” Finlay said.
“Trade Minister Andrew Robb should be congratulated on what has been an outstanding year for trade agreements. The KAFTA, the Japan-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement and the recently completed China-Australia Free Trade Agreement will provide significant expanded opportunities for Australian farmers.
Under the new agreement, tariffs on key Australian pork exports of 22.5 to 25 percent will be eliminated in five to 15 years. Tariffs will also be eliminated on beef and bovine offal, raw sugar, cheese, butter, sheep meat and goat meat.
“In reality, this means more avenues to market for farm products and more potential for higher returns. As a sector, we need to ensure that we take full advantage of the South Korean agreement but also the agreements with Japan and China,” Finlay said.
Finlay said KAFTA will immediately increase export opportunities across a wide range of industries.

Maple Leaf Foods supports free trade between Canada, Japan

Maple Leaf Foods has come out in support of the negotiations between Canada's federal government and the government of Japan towards achieving a free trade agreement that could significantly benefit Canada's agri-food sector.
"We congratulate both governments on taking the important first steps towards this historic partnership," said Michael McCain, president and CEO of Maple Leaf Foods. "Maple Leaf Foods has had a strong presence in Japan for many years, serving many valued Japanese customers with high-quality fresh chilled and frozen pork. This agreement could unlock tremendous opportunities to increase the supply of Canadian pork products to a priority international market for Canada's agri-food sector. We encourage and are hopeful for a timely and ambitious outcome of these negotiations."
In addition to the Canada-Japan free trade negotiations, Maple Leaf Foods said it looks forward to the federal government's conclusion of a free trade agreement with South Korea. Significant Canadian agri-food exports to South Korea are at risk due to the tariff advantage exporters from the U.S. and other countries now enjoy through trade agreements with the country, said the company.

USDA trade mission creates opportunities for US agriculture in China

Acting Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Michael Scuse led nearly 40 American businesses on a U.S. Department of Agriculture trade mission to China March 23–28.
U.S. agricultural exports to China have grown more than 80 percent in the past three years, and the USDA trade mission aimed to help American businesses strike new deals, strengthen business ties, expand their markets and support jobs for Americans. During stops in Chengdu and Shanghai, participants met with dozens of Chinese producers, importers, buyers, distributors and investors. The mission also coincided with the Food Ingredients China tradeshow.

US poultry, egg industry groups support trade agreements

The USA Poultry & Egg Export Council, National Chicken Council, National Turkey Federation and United Egg Producers issued a joint statement supporting the decision to send three pending free trade agreements with Korea, Colombia and Panama to Congress for approval. The groups say the U.S. poultry and egg industries have strongly supported these negotiations since they concluded more than four years ago.
The three FTAs could generate almost $1.4 billion in additional U.S. poultry and egg exports annually, say the groups. According to U.S. Department of Agriculture calculations, the industry’s current annual exports of nearly $4.4 billion support more than 50,400 U.S. jobs, and every additional 1 billion dollars in U.S. poultry and egg exports could mean 11,525 American jobs throughout the economy.
The U.S.-Korea FTA would improve market access for U.S. poultry and egg exports to South Korea, mostly by duty reduction and elimination. The U.S.-Colombia FTA would cut duties, eliminate variable duties and give the U.S. a 27,040-metric ton tariff rate quota at zero duty with 4% annual growth for chicken leg quarters. The U.S.-Panama FTA would eliminate duties on some poultry products within five years and establishes a preferential duty-free TRQ for chicken leg quarters that starts at 660 metric tons and grows each year by a 10% compound rate.

US Grains Council supports free trade agreement passage

The U.S. Grains Council applauded the U.S. administration in its renewed push for the passage of three pending bilateral trade agreements, including Colombia, Korea and Panama.
According to estimates, the three FTAs will result in an additional $2.5 billion in sales and lead to the creation of more than 20,000 jobs. Lack of ratification has led to loss of U.S. exports and market share, as a number of foreign competitors have aggressively pursued favorable trade deals that place U.S. exporters at a competitive disadvantage, USGC says. “We are encouraged by the Administration’s submission of the long-standing free trade agreements for ratification by Congress,” said Dr. Wendell Shauman, USGC chairman. “Passage of these agreements will help to immediately level the playing field and allow organizations like the Council to aggressively re-engage with our international partners and win back lost market share.
“The three trade agreements are critical components of U.S. competitiveness in the international marketplace. Once ratified, they will offer immediate duty-free or preferential treatment for U.S. coarse grains exports of and most U.S. agricultural commodities," said Shauman. "This will not only benefit U.S. producers, but will also enhance each country’s ability to meet the needs of its growing middle class for high-quality protein products at low cost to consumers."

Brazil, Mexico to move forward on bilateral free-trade agreement

The Unity Summit of Latin America and the Caribbean in late February served as a platform for Mexico and Brazil to move discussions forward on a possible bilateral free-trade agreement, according to SourceMex.
However, members of Mexico’s agricultural industry are worried about the affect an agreement would have on their businesses. Mexico is already importing more food from Brazil than it is exporting to the country, thanks in part to Brazil’s more generous agricultural subsidies, which allow Brazilian producers to price their products competitively. Between 2004 and 2008, Mexico’s agricultural trade deficit with Brazil was US$141M.