NPPC sets 2019 priorities; trade tops the list

The National Pork Producers Council has agreed its priority issues for 2019 and a lot of them pertain to trade.

Specifically, NPPC is urging the United States remove tariffs on Mexican metal imports so that its punitive tariffs of 20 percent on U.S. pork are removed. The group also urges Congress to ratify the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, resolve the trade dispute with China and initiate or continue bilateral trade talks with Japan, The Philippines, United Kingdom and European Union.

NPPC support for an EU trade agreement is contingent on 1) eliminating tariff and nontariff barriers in line with the free trade agreements it has with 20 other nations and 2) recognizing the equivalence of U.S. pork production practices and accepting imports from all USDA approved facilities.

For the UK, the group seeks an end to tariff and non-tariff barriers to U.S. pork exports and adoption of Codex and other international production standards.

Other issues of concern for NPPC include:

• FDA’s proposed regulatory framework for gene-edited animals (NPPC seeks to move regulatory authority to USDA).
• FDA/USDA regulation of laboratory-produced cultured proteins (NPPC seeks giving USDA final authority).
• Implementation of USDA’s new swine inspection system (NPPC supports it).
• 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (NPPC seeks limited scope and respect for the fundamental role of animal protein in the American diet).
• On-farm foodborne illness outbreak investigations (NPPC seeks limiting these to specific situations where on-farm controls are possible and to be conducted in a way that protects producers’ livelihoods).
• Antibiotic resistance and regulation (NPPC seeks the use of science and risk assessment, preservation of use to protect animal health and welfare and a science-based international standard).
• Foreign animal disease prevention and preparation (NPPC seeks a coordinated government/industry effort).
• Emerging diseases preparedness and response (NPPC seeks funding for the Swine Health Information Center).
• Homeland security and border protection (NPPC seeks collaboration with USDA and FDA to identify products of concern and interdict them).
• Visa reform (NPPC seeks a visa system that provides agricultural employers with sustained access to year-round labor).
• GIPSA rulemaking (NPPC opposes any regulation that restricts producers’ ability to sell and packers’ ability to buy livestock).
• Livestock Mandatory Reporting reauthorization (NPPC supports timely reauthorization).
• Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) reauthorization (NPPC seeks to ensure CFTC does not adopt one-size-fits-all rules at the expense of smaller users of derivatives markets).
• Keep food affordable (NPPC seeks to counter anti-agriculture activist group inroads in passing ballot initiatives and state regulations that undermine pork production and reduce consumer choice).
• Hours of service (NPPC seeks a balance for livestock haulers between highway safety and welfare of animals in transit).
• Air emissions reporting (NPPC seeks to ensure EPA recognizes industry advancements and their impact on emissions as it determines calculation recommendations. 
• Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule (NPPC suggests the Trump administration rescind the 2015 rule and issue a new WOTUS rule that clarifies the extent of federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act that protects the right to farm without threat of mandatory permitting, federal enforcement actions or activist lawsuits).