NPPC applauds deal to vote on trade agreements
The PigSite.com
NPPC Applauds Deal To Vote On Trade Agreements
11 May 2007
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Pork Producers Council has applauded the Bush administration’s House Speaker Pelosi and congressional leadership for reaching a bi-partisan deal to move forward free trade agreements that will enable increased exports of US pork.
Hopefully, standards on labour and the environment will be added to pending and future trade agreements and the FTA deal should pave the way for votes on bi-lateral free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, Peru and South Korea.
According to Iowa State University economist Dermot Hayes, those trade pacts, when fully implemented, are estimated to increase US live hog prices from anything between, 20 cents and $10.
“We appreciate the hard work of USTR Ambassador Susan Schwab and Speaker Pelosi and other congressional leaders in unlocking the stalemate on trade,” said NPPC President Jill Appell, a pork producer from Altona, Illonois.
“Increasing export markets through international trade agreements is vital to the profitability of U.S. pork producers, and we will fight hard to get these pending FTAs approved,” she added.
NPPC is understandably eager for pork producers reap the benefits of these FTAs and would like to see all four pending FTAs approved by Congress prior to the August recess.
