U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) urged the Biden Administration to protect Wisconsin’s cheese and meat producers. She emphasized ensuring their products remain widely available and that they can use common food names globally. Baldwin urged the protection of Wisconsin products in ongoing and future trade agreements after the U.S. Trade Representative successfully secured market access to Chile for several U.S. cheese and meat products. This includes guarantees that Wisconsin producers can sell their products using common food names like “parmesan” or “salami.” This policy is in line with Senator Baldwin’s bipartisan legislation. This legislation protects Made in Wisconsin products from unfair trade practices by foreign countries.
“Trade and access to export markets are critical to Wisconsin’s dairy and meat industries. It supports American farmers and our rural communities, as well as food manufacturers and entire supply chains. For that reason, ensuring meaningful benefits and opportunities for American agricultural producers must be a top priority,” wrote Senator Baldwin in a letter to the U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai.
People around the world use common food and drink names like “parmesan,” “chateau,” and “bologna” to describe products to consumers. However, because these common names have geographic ties to European locations, the European Union has begun using economic and political influence to implement unfair trade practices under the guise of protecting geographic indicators. These unfair trade practices have the potential to block United States’ agricultural products from being sold in international markets.
In June, USTR and Chile reached an agreement on market access for various U.S. cheese and meat products. This included that U.S. products can use these common food names to sell their products in Chile. In her letter to the USTR, Senator Baldwin urged the Biden Administration to continue securing market access and common food names for dairy and meat products in ongoing or future negotiations over trade agreements.
“Given the critical role that access to international markets plays for American producers, I urge you to ensure that this agreement is rigorously enforced once it goes into effect. Protecting their market access and recognizing common food names are essential not only to the economic well- being of our agricultural sector, but also to maintaining fair competition and consumer choice,” wrote Senator Baldwin.
A full version of this letter is available here.
