USMEF Statement on Regional Agricultural Promotion Program Funding
| On Oct. 24, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced that USDA will utilize $1.3 billion from the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) to fund a Regional Agricultural Promotion Program aimed at diversifying export markets for U.S. agricultural products. U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) President and CEO Dan Halstrom issued the following statement: USMEF thanks Secretary Vilsack and the staff at USDA for prioritizing international market development by making these funds available through the Commodity Credit Corporation. The USDA Market Access Program (MAP) and Foreign Market Development (FMD) Program have a proven track record of providing excellent, value-added returns to U.S. producers, and more recently the Agricultural Trade Promotion Program (ATP) helped U.S. agriculture overcome trade obstacles and develop new markets. With ATP funding coming to the end, new investments in foreign market development are very timely and much appreciated. We also thank Congressional leaders for their support of this program and for their continued support of MAP and FMD funding. ### USMEF media contact: |