NAFTA Seasonal Produce Letter

On August 15, NAEGA joined 28 other food and agricultural organizations in a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer regarding the potential for a seasonal produce provision in an upcoming NAFTA deal. The provision would allow the U.S. to place seasonal tariffs on various fruits and vegetables by redefining domestic industry. In the letter, the undersigned organizations reiterated their opposition to the inclusion of the seasonal produce provision, which would not only impede trade in U.S. produce, but create the risk of retaliatory action against a broad swath of U.S. agricultural products. In particular, once established, this new rule will make it easier for Mexico and Canada to impose anti-dumping duties on imports of produce from the United States and undermine support for the agreement from producers in Canadian and Mexican markets.

Read a copy of the letter here.

USDA FAS Presentation

On Friday, August 17 Gary and Ryan presented before a group of 25 U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA FAS) locally employed staff. Locally employed staff are foreign nationals who assist FAS employees in executing their missions around the world. During the presentation, Gary and Ryan described NAEGA mission, goals and the successful cooperative relationship enjoyed between NAEGA and USDA FAS.

A copy of their presentation is available here.

IGTC and IGC Meetings

A trip report is now available for Gary and Katy’s mission to London for meetings with IGTC members and corporate stakeholders and to attend the IGC Grains Conference.

 In London, Gary and Katy led and executed IGTC meetings with 26 global grain trade leaders, governments and international institutions. The overarching objective was to achieve a market and regulatory environment supportive of trade that avoids disruptions in the international trade of grain, oilseeds, pulses and derived products. Specific activities to support UES objectives for GRNOS included:

• Organization and administration of the IGTC’s Strategy Session (June 18): Contribution to the implementation of the IGTC Business Plan through the enhancement of IGTC Policy Teams, Working Groups and operations. Increased engagement of IGTC participants at national and regional level.
• Leadership of IGTC in-person Management Council meeting (June 18)
• Representation of grain trade interests at the International Grain Council’s (IGC) 46th Session (June 18): Support for work to implement “expanded external information exchange” with partners as per the IGTC Business Plan.
• Organization of a grain-trade specific panel session at the IGC annual conference (June 19-20): Provision of representation and sharing of expertise on the commercial requirements and economics of the world's food, feed and processing industries as per the IGTC Business Plan.

A copy of the trip report can be found here.

Contracts and Best Practices Seminar

On Tuesday, August 14 NAEGA held a successful Contracts and Best Practices Seminar in Minneapolis, MN. Attended by over 15 participants from member companies, the seminar featured a broad review of NAEGA 2 Model Contracting terms, the recent revisions to the contract, exercises on laytime and a review of the global contracting environment.

Interesting in attending at contracts seminar or hosting a private seminar for your company? Contact Ryan.