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USDEC and NMPF Strengthen Ties with Sociedad Rural Argentina (SRA) to Promote Sound Science in Food and Ag Trade Policy

CONTACTS:

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

ARLINGTON, VA –  The U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC), National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and Sociedad Rural Argentina (SRA) today formalized an agreement to foster cooperation and collaboration between the three groups to advocate for science-based regulations across food and agricultural trade policy.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) among the three groups sets forth a broad set of principles to guide collaboration on key issues that affect their members. The agreement spans two years and includes a strong focus on food policy priorities as well as Codex, sustainability, and food systems issues. 

“We are proud to strengthen our partnership with Argentine agricultural producers on issues of common concern,” said Krysta Harden, president and CEO of USDEC. “Together we will work to ensure international regulatory policy is based in science, while we also endeavor to reduce unnecessarily burdensome barriers to trade between our two nations.” 

"From the Sociedad Rural Argentina, we continue to work hard in pursuit of free trade, based on clear and fair rules, to achieve structural reforms to international trade in agricultural products, and in particular dairy products where there is great protectionism," said Nicolás Pino, president of the SRA. "In this sense, we celebrate this agreement with North American milk producers and exporters that seeks to strengthen joint actions on the international agenda."

“U.S. dairy producers share common interests with their counterparts in Argentina, including global leadership on sustainability and regulatory standards,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “SRA and its member recognize that we must ground new and evolving rules in the latest and best science, rather than allowing other agendas to distort food and ag policy.”

The MOU between NMPF, USDEC and SRA complements agreements signed this year with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and the Pan American Dairy Federation (FEPALE), providing USDEC and NMPF an additional avenue to communicate and engage with stakeholders in Latin America. 

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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.