On Feb. 26, the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) said dairy industry leaders from across the country were in Washington, D.C., to urge congressional leaders and appropriators to fund important research, a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) milk incentive pilot program, and dairy standards modernization at the FDA in fiscal year (FY) 2021.

The U.S. Dairy Export Council, the National Milk Producers Federation and the Consortium for Common Food Names expressed appreciation for Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue’s denunciation of geographical indications as trade barriers.

Cary Frye, senior vice president for regulatory affairs with the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) in Washington, D.C., will give oral testimony on Jan. 24 to the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) at the USDA Children's Nutrition Research Center in Houston.

A dozen executives from North America’s largest dairy companies will travel to Washington, D.C., on Dec. 4 to advocate directly with members of Congress and Trump administration officials for passage of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

Farmers, ranchers, producers and growers will advocate to their members of Congress for swift passage of USMCA.

The deficit is being driven by abuse of geographical indications, CCFN said.

Congress must pass the trade agreement, letter says, to enable food and agriculture to trade more fairly with top two markets.