Contact: Marti Pupillo
mpupillo@idfa.org
202-220-3535

(Washington, D.C. – December 12, 2012) The International Dairy Foods Association today announced the promotion of John P. Kelly to the position of director of international affairs. In this role, Kelly will continue to support IDFA's efforts on international trade and import and export issues, while overseeing the association's sweetener and trade committees.

"John has worked diligently during the past two years to promote issues that are important to dairy manufacturers and provide valuable guidance to members on global markets and trade issues," said Clay Hough, IDFA senior group vice president. "Global trade is a key growth area for the U.S. dairy industry, and IDFA will continue to focus attention on international issues that will help to open foreign markets for our dairy products."

Kelly has promoted the interests of the U.S. dairy industry during meetings held in conjunction with negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in Viet Nam, Leesburg, Va., and Auckland, New Zealand, where the 15th round of talks just concluded. He continues to advocate for increased access for U.S. dairy products in important markets such as Canada and Vietnam, as well as for provisions that would protect the continued use of common cheese names and facilitate dairy trade.

Prior to joining IDFA in 2010, Kelly worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service. He helped to manage and coordinate USDA's international technical assistance to enhance U.S. export opportunities, promote food security and support U.S. national security objectives. As an agricultural development specialist, he worked with the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Millennium Challenge Corporation and land-grant universities to help developing countries build their capacity for global trade.

A graduate of Michigan State University, Kelly received a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from the university's James Madison College, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Marketing with a specialization in international business from the Eli Broad College of Business. He was raised on his family's dairy farm in Michigan.

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The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), headquartered in Washington, D.C., represents the nation's dairy manufacturing and marketing industries and their suppliers, with a membership of 550 companies representing a $110-billion a year industry. IDFA is composed of three constituent organizations: the Milk Industry Foundation (MIF), the National Cheese Institute (NCI) and the International Ice Cream Association (IICA). IDFA's 220 dairy processing members run more than 600 plant operations, and range from large multi-national organizations to single-plant companies. Together they represent more than 85% of the milk, cultured products, cheese and frozen desserts produced and marketed in the United States. IDFA can be found online at www.idfa.org.