USMEF Urges USTR to Review Access Issues in Africa, Caribbean

From U.S. Meat Export Council 

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) is currently conducting its annual review of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which provides favorable access to the U.S. market for products from some 30 African nations.  Those nations are supposed to also open their markets to U.S. products, but as the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) explained in comments filed with USTR, some of those nations, South Africa and Nigeria in particular, maintain significant trade obstacles for U.S. red meat. USMEF President and CEO Dan Halstrom explains some of the concerns expressed to USTR for the review.

A public hearing on AGOA was held by USTR earlier today. The Act is set to expire Sept. 30 unless Congress takes action to renew the program.

Halstrom also discusses a similar trade preferences program for the Caribbean, which is also under review by USTR. USMEF filed comments regarding access under the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI), urging USTR to consider market access barriers when evaluating whether to recommend any country as a CBI beneficiary. Of particular interest is Jamaica’s longstanding ban on U.S. pork and high tariffs on imported beef and pork. 

USTR will submit a report to Congress on the CBI by the end of this year.

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