IDFA Senior Group Vice President Clay Hough represented IDFA during the latest round of talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, which took place March 3-9 in Melbourne, Australia. The agreement's Asian-Pacific orientation and potential for expanding to other important dairy markets in the region make it an important vehicle for establishing a fair and efficient system of international trade for dairy products.

The Melbourne sessions were the eleventh round of talks. The TPP is currently being negotiated by Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam. Other countries that have expressed interest in participating are Canada, Mexico and Japan.