The government has erased from its books the regulations for two export subsidy programs, the Export Enhancement Program and Dairy Export Incentive Program, that were mothballed years ago. USDA published a final rule in the Federal Register to remove its regulations for the programs. The programs were created in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when U.S. farm exports faced challenges that included unfavorable currency exchange rates and foreign competition. The programs gave exporters bonus amounts of U.S. goods if they lowered their prices to make a sale on the world market.
EEP was last used in 2001 and DEIP was put into hiatus in 2010. Congress repealed EEP in the 2008 farm law and repealed DEIP in the 2014 farm law.
FDA announced in the Federal Register a hearing on Feb 10 from 1-4 p.m. ET in College Park, Md, on its draft environmental impact statement for its proposed rule on standards for growing, harvesting, packing and storage of produce under the Food Safety Modernization Act.