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Statement on Dairy Import Assessment Expansion and the Farm Bill By EU Ambassador John Bruton

Posted on: Thursday, 13 March 2008, 12:00 CDT

Ambassador John Bruton, Head of the European Commission Delegation to the United States, issued the following statement today regarding the proposed expansion of the U.S. Dairy Promotion and Research Assessment to imported dairy products in the Farm Bill, currently pending before Congress.

Under the program, the United States Department of Agriculture imposes an assessment to fund domestic dairy promotion, such as the well-known "Got Milk" marketing campaign.

"It is simply not fair to tax European producers to fund a program that boosts domestic consumption in the U.S. Of course, we've "Got Milk" in Europe, but it's not feasible to trade it across the Atlantic. And we've got cheese, too -- some of the best in the world -- but U.S. imports are limited through quotas, so that any expansion of the American market won't benefit European producers."

"As it stands now, imposing the assessment would be a clear violation of World Trade Organization rules on equal treatment of agricultural products because states and territories outside the continental U.S. are exempted. Even if those areas were brought into the program, a new fee on imports would still be discriminatory because the programs funded benefit only American producers."

"Since its inception in 1983, the 'checkoff program' has always been intended to support the marketing of American milk and dairy products. The U.S. cannot just turn around now and ask European and other non-American dairy producers to support America's domestic industry when there is very limited access to the U.S. domestic market or, as with milk, effectively no access at all."

"I hope the Farm Bill negotiators in Congress follow the lead of the Senate and take care of this matter in the coming months."

Source: Business Wire

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