Six U.S. representatives proposed to double, over a five-year period, the funding for two USDA programs that share costs with the private sector in developing overseas markets for American foods. The statutory funding levels for the Market Access Program (MAP) and the Foreign Market Development program (FMD) have not been increased in more than a decade, said lead sponsors Dan Newhouse and Chellie Pingree.
In a statement, Newhouse, a Washington State Republican, and Pingree, a Maine Democrat, said the European Union spends more on promotion of its wines, an estimated $255 this year, than the United States spends to promote all of its export commodities. “If this trend continues, American producers will be severely disadvantaged in the global marketplace,” they said.
Under their bill, funding for MAP would rise to $400 million a year and for FMD to $69 million in fiscal 2023. MAP provides up to a 50-percent cost-share to trade groups, farmer cooperatives and small businesses for consumer promotion, technical assistance, market research and other export-aiding activities for U.S. products. The FMD program has similar goals and is used largely for bulk commodities.