Contact: Peggy Armstrong
(202) 220-3508
parmstrong@idfa.org

(Washington, D.C. –July 15, 2015) The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) today commended the 21 U.S. Representatives who have taken a strong stance against Canada’s lack of engagement on dairy market-access negotiations in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks.

A bipartisan letter led by Representatives Reid Ribble (R-WI), Ron Kind (D-WI), David Valadao (R-CA) and Suzan DelBene (D-WA) urges Canadian Ambassador to the United States Gary Albert Doer to engage and commit to ‘significant and commercially meaningful market access for all remaining agricultural products,” including dairy.

“These lawmakers understand the importance of getting the best deal from all of the countries negotiating TPP for the U.S. dairy industry,” said Connie Tipton, IDFA president and CEO. "Dairy was left out of both the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement and the North American Free Trade Agreement; we are not willing to support another agreement that doesn’t include significant access to Canada’s dairy market.”

IDFA is seeking market access for all dairy products across all tariff lines in the TPP negotiations.

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The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), Washington, D.C., represents the nation's dairy manufacturing and marketing industries and their suppliers, with a membership of 550 companies within a $125-billion a year industry. IDFA is composed of three constituent organizations: the Milk Industry Foundation (MIF), the National Cheese Institute (NCI) and the International Ice Cream Association (IICA). IDFA's nearly 200 dairy processing members run nearly 600 plant operations, and range from large multi-national organizations to single-plant companies. Together they represent more than 85 percent of the milk, cultured products, cheese, ice cream and frozen desserts produced and marketed in the United States.