U.S. Senator Russ Feingold
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Over the past few years, I have advanced a number of initiatives to ensure that our farmers compete on a fair playing field in the international marketplace, and, at the same time, American consumers benefit from the high-quality products that farmers produce.

Dairy

In 2001, after hearing concerns about rising imports of milk protein concentrate (MPCs), I introduced the Quality Cheese Act, which would prevent the Food and Drug Administration from changing the definition of natural cheese to include MPCs. At the same time, I joined with a number of my colleagues in the Wisconsin delegation to commission a General Accounting Office report, which was released in March 2003. This report showed that a loophole in our trade laws may be resulting in increased imports of dry milk products during a time of historically low milk prices.

To follow up on this report I joined my colleague Senator Mark Dayton (D-MN) to propose legislation which would impose new tariff rate quotas on nonindustrial uses of casein, casein products, and milk protein concentrate. I continue to speak out against the use of this trade loophole and its negative impact on Wisconsin’s dairy farm families, including providing testimony to the U.S. International Trade Commission for their fact-finding investigation. The Commission's report, "Conditions of Competition for Milk Protein Products the U.S. Market" found that MPCs have displaced 318 million pounds of domestically produced milk proteins, reinforcing the need for tariffs to stem the tide of cheap imports.

Pork

Exports of pork products to Mexico have been threatened by anti-dumping cases brought against the U.S. by Mexico. I urged Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman and Trade Representative Robert Zoellick to use the tools necessary to ensure that Mexico does not restrict U.S. pork exports. In June of 2005, Mexico dropped an anti-dumping case that was filed in early 2003 regarding a number of U.S. pork products; however, this good news was tempered by Mexico’s initiation of a new antidumping case involving fresh and frozen unprocessed ham products. I again requested the assistance of Secretary Veneman and Ambassador Zoellick to ensure that the Mexican market remains open to U.S. pork exports. I will continue to advocate on behalf of Wisconsin’s farmers when they are faced with unfair trade barriers.

Ginseng

Working with Wisconsin ginseng growers, I was proud to introduce legislation with Representative Dave Obey (D-WI) to provide consumers with reliable labeling of the ginseng that they buy. This legislation, known as the Ginseng Harvest Labeling Act of 2004, is an effort to ensure that consumers can make informed decisions about, and have confidence in, the ginseng they buy. The new law would require that ginseng, as a raw agricultural commodity, be sold at retail with a label clearly indicating the country that the ginseng was harvested in. Wisconsin ginseng is widely known to be some of the best in the world, and mislabeling is significantly undermining Wisconsin ginseng growers. The legislation I introduced would help put a stop to this problem. While the bill was not acted on last year, I have reintroduced it in the 109th Congress as S.854.

Agriculture Main

   

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