Bill Targeting Cargo Theft Clears the House

The House on Tuesday passed the bipartisan Combatting Organized Retail Crime Act (CORCA), a bill aimed at cracking down on organized retail theft and cargo break-ins that have been creating headaches for U.S. dairy exporters. Criminals have been targeting

shipping containers in search of high-value retail goods, but dairy products have been getting caught in the crosshairs, causing shipment delays, supply chain disruptions and headaches for exporters trying to move products efficiently.

CORCA would give law enforcement more muscle to go after these organized crime rings. The bill would improve coordination between federal, state and local agencies, while also helping retailers, manufacturers and transportation providers share information about emerging threats. It also strengthens tools for prosecutors to track criminal financing and target large-scale theft operations more effectively. Another key piece of the legislation would create an Organized Retail and Supply Chain Crime Coordination Center within Homeland Security Investigations to help everybody work together and stay ahead of these problems.

We see the bill as a commonsense step toward protecting dairy exporters and making sure products reach customers safely and on time. We worked with our partners in Congress to secure legislative language that specifically addresses threats to food and agriculture, a priority I discussed with the bill’s Senate lead, Chuck Grassley, during a meeting last month. The bill now heads to the Senate; we’re looking forward to keeping the momentum going and helping move this legislation across the finish line.

Dairy Calls for Fair Trade Rules in African Markets
Modernizing the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) gives us an important opportunity to strengthen trade ties across

sub-Saharan Africa and create new opportunities for U.S. dairy exports. In comments submitted this week alongside the U.S. Dairy Export Council and the Consortium for Common Food Names, we urged the U.S. Trade Representative to ensure updates to the Act include fair market access for U.S. agriculture and stronger protections for common food names.

While ag exports to the region have grown over the years, the U.S. share of that market has steadily declined, as competitors including the European Union expand their footprints. The EU has increasingly used trade agreements across Africa to grant European suppliers exclusive rights to commonly used food names, making it more difficult for U.S. dairy exporters to compete. Several AGOA-eligible countries already restrict the use of common cheese names like asiago, fontina, feta and gorgonzola under agreements negotiated with the EU. These efforts are designed to give European exporters a leg up in emerging markets before American dairy producers have a fair opportunity to grow their presence.

That’s why we encouraged the U.S. Trade Representative to use AGOA modernization to protect U.S. exporters and preserve the right to use common cheese names. Our comments called for AGOA eligibility standards that promote fair and transparent treatment of trademarks and geographical indications while preventing countries from handing exclusive rights for generic terms over to European producers. As African markets continue to grow and consumer demand rises, U.S. dairy farmers and exporters need to compete on a level playing field.