Bipartisan Letter to EU Ambassador Asks for Delay in Export Certificate Changes
A bipartisan letter from four House members asked the European Union's ambassador to the U.S. for a meeting to see if the changes to export certificate requirements for food could be reconsidered or delayed. Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y., publicized the letter in a June 17 press release. Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis., Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Ind., and Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif., also signed the letter.
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"Since taking office, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack have engaged with their European counterparts in an effort to renew our trading ties, deescalate recent tariff stand-offs, and address various issues," they wrote. They asked for a similar spirit of collaboration on agricultural export certificate requirements.
"Specifically, we are concerned with the staunch inflexibility the European Commission has maintained throughout this year regarding new entry certificate requirements for U.S. exports of food and agriculture products, including meat and dairy products," they said. "The Commission’s decision to impose new export certificate requirements -- set to take effect on August 21st -- on meat and dairy exporters exemplifies not only frequent changes in EU policymaking, but also the EU’s unduly prescriptive approach to the regulation of agricultural trade which creates a looming cloud of uncertainty over whether access to the EU market will abruptly close."