USDA awards $13.5 million to ease trade barriers for U.S. specialty crops

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service has awarded $13.5 million through its Assisting Specialty Crop Exports initiative to address non-tariff barriers affecting U.S. specialty crop exports. The funding includes a $10 million, five-year partnership with the IR-4 Project at North Carolina State University to generate data for Codex Alimentarius standards and support research on pesticide residue mitigation.

The USDA is also providing $3 million to support the Codex Alimentarius Commission, which develops international maximum residue limits (MRLs) used to facilitate agricultural trade. Another $500,000 project with Bryant Christie will analyze biopesticide regulatory and residue requirements in foreign markets, giving U.S. producers additional information on market-access requirements.

The ASCE initiative targets regulatory and other non-tariff barriers affecting fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, horticultural products and other specialty crops. Its projects are designed to benefit entire industries or product categories rather than individual companies and include work on foreign standards, certifications, import requirements and international regulatory harmonization.