A coalition of agriculture groups this week called on Congressional appropriators to fully fund USDA’s Market Access Program (MAP) and Foreign Market Development (FMD) Program.
In letters sent to Senate Agriculture Appropriations Chair Martin Heinrich (D-NV), Ranking Member John Hoeven (R-ND), House Agriculture Appropriations Chair Andy Harris (R-MD), and Ranking Member Sanford Bishop (D-GA), the groups requested at least $200 million in mandatory funding for MAP and $34.5 million for FMD in FY2024.
“The undersigned organizations of the Coalition to Promote U.S. Agricultural Exports request at least $200 million in continued mandatory funding for the [MAP] program and at least $34.5 million in continued mandatory funding for the [FMD] program when you write the fiscal year 2024 Agriculture, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies appropriations bill later this year,” the letter to appropriators said.
127 groups, including the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council and Georgia Poultry Federation, signed the letters. The House letter can be found here and the Senate letter can be found here.
The groups also shared a letter expressing support for the Expanding Agricultural Exports Act of 2023 (S. 176), a Senate bill that would double the funding for both MAP and FMD. That letter was shared with Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Ranking Member John Boozman (R-AR), and can be found here.
“The U.S. is losing ground as other countries across the European Union and throughout Asia try to replicate the success of our export promotion programs by developing and investing in their own,” the letter to the Senate Ag Committee said. “Investments now in these proven, export promotion programs are immediate steps which can be taken to continue to grow American agriculture’s longer term success story in trade. Please continue the legacy of success for these programs by investing in them as part of a new Farm Bill.”
