The House version of the farm bill, scheduled for a marathon markup in the House Agriculture Committee May 15, includes many of the same trade-related provisions as the Senate version (see 13051424 for more on the Senate farm bill). The House bill, HR-1947, also reauthorizes funding for the Export Credit Guarantee, Market Access and Foreign Market Development Cooperator programs. The Market Access Program is reauthorized on a cost-share basis and private contributions are estimated to be 60 percent of the total annual spending on trade promotion and market development, according to a House Agriculture Committee summary of the bill (here). The bill also adds a new section allowing the U.S. Department of Agriculture to establish a presidentially appointed position of Under Secretary for Foreign Agricultural Services, which would allow USDA to place a “renewed focus on solving trade issues through the Foreign Agricultural Service,” the House summary said. In his opening statement, Committee Ranking Member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., said he hoped the farm bill could be voted on by the full House sometime before the July 4 recess.

New lobbyist registrations on trade issues include:

The Trade Blue Book, a compilation of 2013 trade statutes, is now available. The Blue Book was first published in 1987, and compiles statutory text of U.S. trade laws. This year’s version “reflects the high level of activity last Congress, including passage of seven bipartisan trade bills,” said House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., in a May 13 statement. The book is free on the Committee’s website (here). Printed copies can be ordered from the Government Printing Office (here).

Recently introduced trade-related legislation in Congress:

The 2013 farm bill, scheduled for markup May 14 and 15 in the House and Senate agriculture committees, includes extensions of export credit and foreign markup programs, as well as other trade-related provisions. Senate amendments to the bill discussed May 14 included a ban on mandatory country-of-origin labeling on livestock and poultry, and an end to the Cuba trade embargo. Both of those amendments were not voted on in the hearing. The Senate version of the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act, a bipartisan bill introduced in January, includes the following trade-related provisions:

A group of U.S. senators joined airline opposition to an Obama administration proposal to establish a CBP preclearance facility in Abu Dhabi. In a May 8 letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, 11 senators questioned whether CBP has the authority to enter into an agreement with the United Arab Emirates, especially at an airport which is not served by any U.S.-based air carrier. “By establishing foreign funded preclearance operations at an airport with so little traffic bound for the United States, we question whether the Department is choosing preclearance locations based on risk or based on a pay-to-play process,” the letter said.

Burdensome federal criminal statutes are getting attention in the House, with the creation of a bipartisan task force on over-criminalization and a new bill designed to reduce the existing criminal code by a third. The House Judiciary Committee approved creation of the task force May 5. Led by Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wisc., the group will work for six months to assess current statutes and recommend improvements.

Senate markup of the immigration overhaul bill -- which provides CBP with additional officers and technology -- began May 9, and included debate over tripling the number border patrol agents on the U.S.-Mexico border, leveraging public private funds to improve ports of entry, and ending border crossing fees. The bill, S-744, requires an additional 3,500 CBP officers no later than Sept. 30, 2017. The CBP Commissioner would also be required to deploy additional equipment and technology to ramp up border security (read the bill here). Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., one of the so-called gang of eight who crafted the bill, said the additional CBP officers could be border patrol agents or customs officials. The bill leaves it up to the discretion of CBP, Schumer said. “In some places you may need more agents, in other places you don’t.”

A new Senate bill would require the U.S. to place additional sanctions on foreign banks in an attempt to block Iran’s access to foreign exchange reserves and limit the ability of certain Iran entities to conduct transactions in foreign currencies. The Iran Sanctions Loophole Elimination Act, introduced May 8, would place sanctions on foreign banks that knowingly facilitate transactions in non-local currency for the Central Bank of Iran, or any other entity within blacklisted Iranian sectors. The legislation makes such sanctions effective May 9 -- meaning the sanctions would be retroactive. The bill could be attached to Iran sanctions legislation in the House later this month.

The unprecedented opportunities for U.S. businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa will only be realized if the federal government crafts a more coordinated export strategy, increases investment in the region and agrees to take on the risks associated in working in such a frontier economy, a group of experts told the House Foreign Affairs Africa Subcommittee May 7.