USDA Creating Trade Under Secretary Position
The Agriculture Department is creating a position for an under secretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced on May 11 (here). The 2014 Farm Bill mandated the new position, which will oversee the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) and will chair an interagency trade committee including FAS, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the Food Safety Inspection Service, the Agricultural Marketing Service and the Federal Grain Inspection Service, USDA said in a report notifying Congress of the new position (here). The under secretary also will meet regularly with the USDA under secretary for food safety and under secretary for marketing and regulatory programs on trade issues requiring regulatory involvement and support.
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“Our plan to establish an undersecretary for trade fits right in line with my goal to be American agriculture’s unapologetic advocate and chief salesman around the world,” Perdue said in a statement. “By working side by side with our U.S. Trade Representative and Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, the USDA undersecretary for trade will ensure that American producers are well equipped to sell their products and feed the world.” The change in USDA structure will take effect June 10, and the person appointed for the new under secretary position must be confirmed by the Senate, a USDA spokesman said.
Congressional agriculture advocates lauded Perdue's announcement. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., in a statement (here) said "just a few short weeks into the job," Perdue "hit the ground running" on behalf of rural America. Roberts added that trade is a top priority for U.S. farmers. Committee Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., also praised the new position in a statement (here) but expressed concern about the elimination of the position of under secretary for rural development, which is part of USDA's realignment. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Michael Conaway, R-Texas, applauded (here) the creation of the position, too, and said he hopes the appointee will play an active role in advocating for U.S. agricultural market access overseas and ensuring trading partners honor their commitments. Conaway said his committee will take a "close look" at the realignment, and will cover the topic when Perdue appears before the panel for a hearing on May 17.