A group of advisors to members of the European Parliament met with U.S. dairy representatives in Washington, D.C., last week to gain a better understanding of the U.S. perspective on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) agreement.
Organized by the British Embassy, the trip allowed the advisors to meet at IDFA offices with Beth Hughes, IDFA director of international affairs, and Shawna Morris, vice president of trade policy at the National Milk Producers Federation.
They discussed the U.S. dairy industry’s perspective on T-TIP, geographical indications and other issues that affect U.S. dairy exports to Europe. Hughes outlined IDFA’s top priorities in the trade agreement negotiations, including a reduction in tariffs and non-tariff barriers, stronger sanitary and phytosanitary measures and protection for U.S. exporters to continue marketing common cheese names.
“The European Union ships about 1 billion dollars of dairy products to the U.S., and we ship less than $100 million to them,” said Hughes. “It was great to be able to communicate directly with these advisors who work closely with members of the European Parliament and share the U.S. dairy industry’s position and concerns regarding the negotiations.”
The advisors represented members of the European Parliament from the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom.
The 12th round of T-TIP negotiations between the United States and the EU took place in Brussels in February, and a 13th round of negotiations will likely be held this month.
For more information, contact Hughes at bhughes@idfa.org.
