USDA is releasing a final rule today under the Packers and Stockyards Act to protect meat and poultry producers from discrimination and retaliation by packers, swine dealers and live poultry dealers.
“It's going to help producers and growers who have become increasingly vulnerable to a range of practices that unjustly exclude them from economic opportunity and disadvantage them, and undermine market integrity in the livestock and poultry industry,” Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack said on a call with reporters Monday.
The Inclusive Competition and Market Integrity rule was proposed in 2022, one of a series of Packers and Stockyards regulations designed to address unfair practices in the meat and poultry industries brought on by a lack of competition.
The rule also “prohibits discrimination against livestock producers and poultry growers by packers, swine contractors and live poultry dealers based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, marital status or age. It also prohibits discrimination against the livestock and poultry producer cooperatives, Vilsack said.
Read more about the rule in our story on Agri-Pulse.com
India digs in on ag trade dispute
The latest ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization closed with no progress on the most important agricultural issue, which has to do with government stockholding and has pitted India against the U.S.
India is so dug in on its position that the country’s representatives threatened to block an extension of a moratorium on tariffs for electronic commerce, an issue that's unrelated to agriculture.
“India took hostages,” Christine Bliss, president of the Coalition of Services Industries, said Monday on a webinar hosted by the Washington International Trade Association. “It came down to India literally being willing to blow up the ministerial unless it got what it wanted on public stockholding.”
The ambassador from Thailand made an impassioned speech about the impact of India’s policies on her country’s rice producers, but wound up getting recalled by her government before the end of the meeting, said Ben Conner, who represented the U.S. Agriculture Coalition for WTO Reform. The coalition comprises 14 different farm groups. India insisted on the "maximalist position” when it came to public stockholding and farm price supports, he said.
By the way: Angela Ellard, a deputy director-general of the WTO, put a positive spin on the outcome, saying the member nations were at least working off a common text on ag policy.
Investigation continues into dumping of Chinese pea protein
The International Trade Commission is entering the final phase of its investigation into the dumping of pea protein by Chinese manufacturers to determine whether any industry in the U.S. has been “materially injured.”
The ITC already has imposed preliminary duties on certain imports ranging from 112 to 270%. PURIS Proteins of Minneapolis asked for the investigation in petitions filed in July, claiming China has heavily subsidized its companies for years.
Some products are outside the scope of the investigation, including burgers, snack bars, bakery products, sugar and gum confectionary products, milk, cheese, baby food, sauces and seasonings, and pet food, even when such products are made with high protein content pea protein.
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FCC Chair: Full Affordable Connectivity Program payments phasing out
The Federal Communications Commission on Monday formally announced April would be the final month it would offer full payments through the Affordable Connectivity Program, which provides enrolled households between $30 and $75 per month to put toward internet bills.
Partial payments under the program may be available in May, but by the end of that month, program funds will be fully exhausted, FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel told lawmakers in a letter Monday.
The agency stopped accepting new enrollments into the program last month, she added. She urged lawmakers to appropriate more funds to keep it operating.
"This enrollment freeze was necessary to begin the process of winding down the program, but already its effects are being felt by households that wish to enroll and are unable to do so,” she said. "Many of these households have contacted the commission to express their disappointment and frustration that they can no longer sign up for the program.
“Others have contacted the agency to express concern about the impending end of the program, noting its impact on older adults, families with school children, and military families at risk of losing their internet service without the ACP benefit,” she added.
Foreign Agricultural Service accepting McGovern-Dole program applications
USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service is accepting project applications for the McGovern-Dole Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program, which facilitates donations of U.S. agricultural products to food-insecure children abroad.
According to the grant notice, the award ceiling for each project is $30 million; overall, the programs are estimated to have $270 million in funding for this year. According to the FAS website, priority countries this fiscal year are Angola, Bangladesh, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Guinea Bissau, Laos, Malawi and Rwanda.
The deadline for applications is May 3.
She said it: “They worry that without ACP support they will lose access to employment, education, health care, and more.” – FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel in her letter to lawmakers on the end of Affordable Connectivity Program funding.
