Senate Approves Full MAP, FMD Funding

Senate Approves Full MAP, FMD Funding

By a vote of 80 to 17, the U.S. Senate has approved the FY 10 Agriculture Appropriations bill (H.R. 2997). The bill includes funding of $200 million for the Market Access Program (MAP) and $34.5 million for the Foreign Market Development (FMD) Program, which were the full levels authorized by Congress in the most recent Farm Bill.

The Senate report also included very favorable language offered by Senator Feinstein (D-Calif.), expressing strong support for the current structure of the Market Access Program.

The House version of this legislation, which also included full funding for MAP and FMD, was approved last month. The Senate will be recessing at the end of this week and will reconvene in September. At that time, a conference committee must reconcile differences between the House and Senate versions of the legislation prior to final passage.

More details on the bill, as well a breakdown of the Senate vote, are available online.

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The U.S. Meat Export Federation (www.USMEF.org) is the trade association responsible for developing international markets for the U.S. red meat industry and is funded by USDA, exporting companies, and the beef, pork, corn and soybean checkoff programs.

For more information, contact Jim Herlihy at jherlihy@usmef.org.

Senate Approves Full MAP, FMD Funding

By a vote of 80 to 17, the U.S. Senate has approved the FY 10 Agriculture Appropriations bill (H.R. 2997). The bill includes funding of $200 million for the Market Access Program (MAP) and $34.5 million for the Foreign Market Development (FMD) Program, which were the full levels authorized by Congress in the most recent Farm Bill.

The Senate report also included very favorable language offered by Senator Feinstein (D-Calif.), expressing strong support for the current structure of the Market Access Program.

The House version of this legislation, which also included full funding for MAP and FMD, was approved last month. The Senate will be recessing at the end of this week and will reconvene in September. At that time, a conference committee must reconcile differences between the House and Senate versions of the legislation prior to final passage.

More details on the bill, as well a breakdown of the Senate vote, are available online.

# # #

The U.S. Meat Export Federation (www.USMEF.org) is the trade association responsible for developing international markets for the U.S. red meat industry and is funded by USDA, exporting companies, and the beef, pork, corn and soybean checkoff programs.

For more information, contact Jim Herlihy at jherlihy@usmef.org.