With our funding now fully in place for 2019, among all of the different programs including the new Agricultural Trade Promotion Program (ATP), with support from USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), we are starting the year with over $3 million and several new activities.
The ATP is a new funding source for export market development created to mitigate the negative impact of trade disputes. For the US dry bean industry, 2018 was a particularly challenging year with retaliatory tariffs of 25% on all U.S. dry bean imports to the EU.
Along with trade development and activities already programmed as part of MAP, FMD, and EMP, the new funding from the ATP will allow us to expand our outreach through innovative initiatives that we have not been able to undertake in the past. Some of the plans for 2019 – 2020 include:
- Participation for the first time ever in ANUFOOD, a critical food trade show in Brazil attracting buyers from all over South America.
- A global bean buyers conference that will take place in a major European city, possibly Geneva or Brussels. TBD.
- An extended and expanded agreement with the Global Pulse Confederation to work together to address ongoing challenges from the prolonged tariffs in the EU.
- A simultaneous global celebration of World Pulse Day 2020.
- Numerous new initiatives to get dry beans on menus and on the palates of millions of consumers throughout Southeast Asia.
We are very excited to get started on program implementation and thank our partners at USDA/FAS for their support. Stay tuned as we firm up our plans for the year.
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