11-13-11 USTR Applauds $1 Million Pledged At APEC For Innovative Global Food Safety Public-Private Partnership

Global Food Safety Fund Will Aim to Prevent Safety Incidents in Food Supply Chains

Honolulu, HI – On the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings being held this week in Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk welcomed the news that an innovative public private partnership has pledged $1 million for the creation of the world’s first Global Food Safety Fund for capacity building.  To be managed by the World Bank, the proposed fund will leverage the tripartite approach pioneered in APEC that enlists a wide range of stakeholders in training programs designed to enhance food safety and to facilitate trade.  These programs will enable more growers, more producers, and more food safety officials to understand and utilize preventive controls – resulting in safer food for consumers, and fewer safety incidents in food trade.

“I am pleased that such a wide range of stakeholders has come together in APEC to advance this ground-breaking approach to strengthening global food supply chains.  The creation of a Global Food Safety Fund will help prevent food safety incidents, protect public health, and lead to greater confidence in trade, thereby creating a more prosperous region,” said Ambassador Kirk.  “I expect that this powerful collaboration among food safety officials, industry experts, academics and other stakeholders can have an enduring impact on food trade, as well as on public health and food security, and I encourage continued efforts by these stakeholders to mobilize additional resources towards these goals. “

11-13-11 *NCBA News* Time to Move on Highway Bill

 By Kent Bacus, NCBA manager of legislative affairs

Over the years, U.S beef producers have been anxiously waiting for Congress to vote on legislation to address our concerns with antiquated and inconsistent transportation rules and regulations that hinder the flow of commerce for small businesses. Legislative solutions are typically consolidated into one piece of multi-year authorizing legislation commonly known as the highway bill. Instead of keeping our transit laws current and reflective of the needs of today’s economy, Congress has the unfortunate habit of kicking the can down the road by extending the existing highway bill to a time when political and fiscal forecasts seem brighter. In fact, the previous highway bill expired in October 2009 and has been extended several times. The current extension of transportation programs will expire at the end of March 2012. All signs from Capitol Hill suggested that no further action would happen on the highway bill until early 2012.

Fortunately, we are finally starting to see movement on the transportation front. On Wed., Nov. 9, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works voted unanimously in support of S. 1813, “Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act,” commonly referred to as the highway bill. The bill is a two year bill that consolidates existing surface transportation programs and reallocates funding to other transportation programs.

Unfortunately, the bill does not include language to address cattlemen’s immediate concerns with increasing truck weights with an additional axle or to allow agricultural permits for drivers to haul up to 100,000 pounds. While the bill does not include language critical to cattlemen, it is important to remember that this is just the beginning of a long process. The House has indicated it may move forward with a transportation bill by the end of this year. NCBA will continue meeting with members of Congress and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to help them understand why cattlemen’s concerns should be addressed in the highway bill.

Specifically, cattlemen urge Congress to include the following provisions in the highway bill:

11-14-11 *CO Farm Bureau News* Show Your Support Once Again for Farmers in Boulder County…

It is important that Colorado Farm Bureau members are there to show support and voice your support for coexistance between biotech and organic farming methods. There will be a meeting of the Boulder County Open Space committee on November 15, 5:30 pm.  The meeting will be at Longmont Conference Center, 1850 Industrial Circle, in Longmont. There will be a chance to comment at this meeting.

CFB had a great turn out the meeting on Monday, November 7, we need to keep the attendence high!

For the past six months, the Boulder County Cropland Policy Advisory Group has been working to develop the protocols for Boulder County Open Space farms. For this particular meeting there are expectations of a very large crowd, including many activists protestors, who do not understand the safety and environmental benefits of GMO crops.

This issue is much bigger than just Boulder County, the outcome of this meeting can adversely affect how we farm going forward. We need to demonstrate that we support all farming practices. Please attend this meeting to show our support for agriculture as we know it and share this alert with everyone that might have an interest in this issue.

Again, the meeting will be of the Boulder County Open Space committee on November 15, 5:30 pm.  The meeting will be at Longmont Conference Center, 1850 Industrial Circle, in Longmont. There will be a chance to comment at this meeting.

We need to make sure CFB members are there to make their voice heard!