World
USDA announces proposed rule to modify COOL
The USDA has issued a proposed rule to modify the labeling provisions for muscle cut commodities covered under the Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) program.
FULL STORY »
Food prices stable, wheat output to rise in 2013
World food prices held steady in February as falling wheat and sugar offset gains in vegetable oils and dairy prices, the United Nations' food agency said, forecasting a more than 4 percent rise in wheat output in 2013.
FULL STORY »
NPPC, ag groups welcome U.S.-EU trade talks
A coalition of U.S. food and agricultural organizations led by the National Pork Producers Council today praised the Obama administration for launching negotiations with the European Union (EU) on a transatlantic free trade agreement (FTA) and for its insistence that the agreement be comprehensive and ambitious.
FULL STORY »
Smithfield venture in Mexico gets $40 million boost
The World Bank's private-sector lender said this week it will lend $40 million to Norson, a joint venture in Mexico of local investors and the world's largest pork processor Smithfield Foods, to expand production and cut greenhouse gas emissions at its plants.
FULL STORY »
U.S. farm trade frets over sequestration
U.S. farmers and agribusiness companies are worried that across-the-board federal budget cuts will snarl the supply channels for everything from milk and broiler chickens to grain shipments, but many are hopeful that the Obama administration and Republican opponents will find a compromise before major disruptions hit the food system.
FULL STORY »
Non-scientific trade barriers create dilemma
USMEF issue analysis explains how barriers such as Russia’s ban on ractopamine disrupt trade and create a dilemma for our industry as we push for scientific standards but also need to satisfy the preferences of export customers.
FULL STORY »
Sen. Baucus: U.S.-EU deal must tackle agricultural barriers
The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee on Monday warned he will not support a proposed free trade agreement between the United States and the European Union unless it tears down barriers that have long blocked U.S. farm exports.
FULL STORY »
USMEF to China: Delay implementing ractopamine import rule
The U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) has asked China to delay implementing its import rule requiring all U.S. pork to be ractopamine-free.
FULL STORY »
White House eyes new trade authority, Asia-Pacific trade deal
President Barack Obama's administration on Friday said it would work with Congress on legislation considered critical for negotiations of U.S. trade agreements as it tries to wrap up talks on an Asia-Pacific free trade pact this year.
FULL STORY »
EU trade chief hopes to clinch U.S. trade deal by late 2014
The United States and European Union cannot afford to let transatlantic trade talks fail after they are launched in June, the EU's trade chief said on Wednesday, warning that both sides' standing and prosperity in the world depended on their success.
FULL STORY »
White House mulls new global food aid approach
The White House may soon propose the biggest change in U.S. food aid since the programs were created during the Cold War - donating cash for hunger relief instead of shipping American-grown food thousands of miles to global trouble spots, say farm groups and charities.
FULL STORY »
