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USDEC, NMPF Expand Strong Partnerships in South America

CONTACTS:

Jerry Brown, USDEC
EMAIL: jbrown@usdec.org
ARLINGTON, VA – The U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) and the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) advanced a pair of partnerships in South America this week. The organizations signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Abraleite, a prominent Brazilian milk producers association, and renewed an existing MOU with Argentine farmer organization Sociedad Rural Argentina (SRA).

The agreements enhance cooperation between the United States and South American dairy industries, focusing on critical areas such as the economic and social significance of the dairy sector and the removal of trade barriers affecting both producers and consumers.

“Our engagements in South America this week underscored the shared challenges and opportunities facing dairy producers and processors in the United States, Brazil and Argentina,” said Krysta Harden, president and CEO of USDEC. “Partnerships with likeminded organizations have been proven to be crucial as we strive to promote the benefits of dairy on the international stage and tackle attempts to erect trade barriers throughout the Americas.”

The updated MOU with SRA includes the launch of a Sustainability and Trade Taskforce, an initiative to provide a balance to European policies that could unfairly impact producers in the United States and Argentina. Objectives include demonstrating that livestock production is a cornerstone of sustainable food systems and advocating for science-based trade policies.

“Dairy producers throughout the Western Hemisphere confront many of the same issues and priorities,” said Gregg Doud, president and CEO of NMPF. “We look forward to working alongside Abraleite and SRA to advance policies that promote dairy and limit trade barriers.”

The two MOUs follow a partnership signed on June 4 with the Colombian dairy organization Asoleche. The partnership formalized USDEC and NMPF’s prior collaboration with Asoleche, demonstrating the value in focusing on areas of common ground, in contrast to the politically driven countervailing duty investigation into U.S. milk powder exports recently initiated by the Colombian government.

In addition to the Latin American partnerships in Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia, USDEC and NMPF have also established MOUs with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and the Chilean Federacion Nacional de Productores de Leche (Fedeleche).

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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.