USDA Report Details Challenges Faced by Specialty Crop Exports
The U.S. Department of Agriculture released its 2018 U.S. Specialty Crops Trade Issues Report on July 31, detailing challenges and barriers faced by certain U.S. exports. Among the challenges, USDA said, are a rise in foreign “food safety measures” that “unfairly restrict market access” for U.S. exporters. USDA said the strict measures set “new, excessively low pesticide residue standards or maximum residue limits” for food exports, which are lower than U.S. requirements and are keeping U.S. crops from being imported into certain markets. “Such measures can be used as trade barriers designed to limit U.S. agricultural exports that compete with domestic production in foreign markets,” the report said.
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The U.S. is trying to lower the barriers by hoping to set international standards for food safety measures to allow U.S. exporters more foreign market access, USDA said. The U.S. is doing this “through bilateral and multilateral mechanisms, including technical dialogues” and “formal consultations with foreign governments under the framework of trade agreements,” the report said.