CONTACTS:

Mark O'Keefe, USDEC PHONE: (703) 528-4812

Theresa Sweeney-Murphy, NMPF PHONE: (559) 553-5895

ARLINGTON, VA. - "The U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) thanks Coast Guard & Maritime Transportation Subcommittee Chairman Salud Carbajal and Subcommittee Ranking Member Bob Gibbs for holding a House Transportation & Infrastructure (T&I) hearing today to examine the impacts of shipping container shortages and delays on supply chains critical to global food supply," said Krysta Harden, USDEC President and CEO. "While receiving testimony and answers from Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) Chair Maffei and Commissioner Dye is a step forward in resolving the issues the U.S. dairy industry faces, we urge House T&I leadership to ensure this oversight action results in tangible action to alleviate and resolve the challenges exporters face."

"Dairy producers throughout the country are feeling the consequences of port congestion as delays in loading U.S. dairy exports onto carriers creates a chilling effect on farm-gate milk prices," said Jim Mulhern, National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) President and CEO. "We thank Chairman Carbajal and Ranking Member Gibbs for holding a hearing today to identify what enforcement authority the FMC requires to resolve this crisis and ensure American dairy exports can continue unimpeded."

Specifically, USDEC and NMPF believe the FMC should require ocean carriers to certify that they are complying with the agency's guidelines. Additionally, the organization urge Congress to allocate sufficient resources to the FMC to ensure complaints of carrier malpractice are prioritized and investigations are expedited to prevent shipping carriers from engaging in unfair trade practices.

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The U.S. Dairy Export Council is a non-profit, independent membership organization that represents the global trade interests of U.S. dairy producers, proprietary processors and cooperatives, ingredient suppliers and export traders. Its mission is to enhance U.S. global competitiveness and assist the U.S. industry to increase its global dairy ingredient sales and exports of U.S. dairy products. USDEC accomplishes this through programs in market development that build global demand for U.S. dairy products, resolve market access barriers and advance industry trade policy goals. USDEC is supported by staff across the United States and overseas in Mexico, South America, Asia, Middle East and Europe. The U.S. Dairy Export Council prohibits discrimination on the basis of age, disability, national origin, race, color, religion, creed, gender, sexual orientation, political beliefs, marital status, military status, and arrest or conviction record. www.usdec.org.