WASHINGTON, June 27, 2016 - Senate Agriculture Chairman Pat
Roberts and ranking Democrat Debbie Stabenow reached an agreement last week on
legislation to preempt state GMO labeling laws for food, but now the pressure
is on for the Senate to actually pass the bill this week. If that happens, farm
groups hope the House will be able to consider the legislation before its
August recess.
Much of the U.S. farming sector is preoccupied with the Roberts-Stabenow
agreement, but the U.K. vote to withdraw from the European Union – the
so-called “Brexit” - is still the biggest thing happening for some exporters
and importers.
The vote is over and the issue supposedly settled, but the confusion and
questions about what happens next have just started. U.S. trade with Britain is
still done under conditions set up by the EU, and that has exporters here
wondering if the U.K. will be rewriting its tariffs and regulations. The U.S.
exported $1.8 billion worth of agricultural goods to the U.K., according to
USDA data.
People like Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, have
lamented that the U.K. will be excluded from European negotiations with the
U.S. on the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. And any type of
bilateral agreement between the U.S. and the U.K. could be severely hampered by
ongoing T-TIP negotiations, he said.
But House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady says now is the time to
start protecting the U.S. relationship with Britain.
“American companies, farmers and workers depend on opening markets to our
exports and investment,” Brady said in a statement. “In this time of
uncertainty, we should now begin to discuss a modern, new trade agreement with
the U.K. that not only continues but expands the level of trade between our two
nations. At the same time, I am committed to a strong and ambitious TTIP
agreement.”
Shoppers getting break on food bill. USDA has lowered
its forecast of food costs this year as prices for pork, eggs, dairy,
poultry and fresh vegetables decline. The department estimates that food prices
will rise just 1 to 2 percent this year, well off the historical average of 2.6
percent.
Beef prices increased slightly from April to May but are more than 5 percent
lower than a year ago because of declining exports. Egg prices fell 6
percent in May (from April) and are 8.3 percent below last year when
producers were being hammered by the avian flu outbreak. Prices for dairy
products are down 2 percent from a year ago.
The California drought continues to raise concerns about prices for fresh
fruits and vegetables. But so far, USDA says increases should be in line with
the historical average.
Vilsack a longshot VP choice? Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack may be
a sleeper favorite to be Hillary Clinton's vice presidential candidate, New
York Times Correspondent Jonathan Martin said Sunday on CNN's "Politics
Today." Vilsack has "rust belt credibility" due to his
Pittsburgh origin and career as a small town mayor and governor of Iowa, Martin
said. His advantage for Clinton in Martin's eyes, however, is that his selection
would have no impact on Democratic hopes to regain control of the Senate, which
would be a drawback for senators from states with Republican governors (and
even for Virginia's Tim Kaine, because a successor would be guaranteed to serve
only until a November 2017 special election).
USDA expands recall for Vietnamese catfish. The USDA on Saturday published
a notice that
the California-based U.S. Cado Holdings, Inc., is expanding it recall for
Vietnamese catfish products by 2,235 pounds. That makes a total of 27,995
pounds of frozen “swai fillet” that the company is trying to get back because
it did not go through the required food safety inspection by USDA.
The initial recall became more fodder for lawmakers and food safety advocates
who are defending USDA’s recent takeover of catfish inspection from the FDA, as
was ordered in the 2008 and 2014 farm bills. USDA does a better job at
intercepting catfish that is contaminated with residues of banned chemicals,
supporters say.
There is no evidence that the catfish being recalled is contaminated, but USDA
has still warned consumers not to eat it.
USDA began inspecting catfish imports in April and since then the agency has
rejected two shipments from Vietnam and one from China.
USDA looks into breeding a tougher bee. Honeybees are used to pollinate
billions of dollars worth of crops – everything from apples to almonds - and
researchers are still trying to lessen the massive deaths every year, including
breeding stronger bees, the USDA said Friday. U.S. beekeepers lost 44 percent
of their bee colonies from April, 2015, through April, 2016, according to a new
audio posting on
USDA’s website.
Jay Evans, head of USDA’s bee lab in Beltsville, Md., said the main cause of
the huge bee deaths every year include viruses from Varroa mites, lack of
nutrition and chemicals ingested by the bees.
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