The USDA says it recently launched the Assisting Specialty Crop Exports initiative to provide $65 million for projects to help the specialty crop sector increase global exports and expand to new markets.
Specialty crop exports last year totaled $24.6 billion, which is about 13.8% of all U.S. agricultural exports, the USDA said.
The department also announced $72.9 million in grant funding to support the specialty crops industry through the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program, which will fund projects designed to bolster the competitiveness of the specialty crop sector.
“Specialty crop producers feed our nation and the world with nutritious fruits, nuts, and vegetables and supply our communities with horticulture products. Yet, they have unique challenges and opportunities to compete in the domestic market and a vast array of barriers that prevent their world-class products from entering foreign markets,” Agriculture Secretery Tom Vilsack said in the new release.
Expanding exports
Funding for ASCE is through the USDA’s new Regional Agricultural Promotion Program, a foreign market development and food security initiative, according to the release. USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service will administer this initiative.
The USDA said the program will support projects that help U.S.-grown specialty crop exports by expanding domestic understanding of foreign food safety systems and also expanding foreign understanding of U.S. food safety systems.
“Each specialty crop product faces a myriad of import standards in every market it enters, including plant health standards, facility and product certifications, packaging requirements, licensing, inspections, maximum residue limits for pesticides and fungicides and various import permits,” Alexis Taylor, USDA undersecretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs, said in the release. “In order to meet all these requirements, it takes significant investment by commodity organizations and producers to navigate the gauntlet of regulations. The new resources provided through the Assisting Specialty Crop Exports initiative will help introduce U.S. specialty crops to new markets and consumers around the globe.”
The USDA said it will assist specialty crop exporters with commodity-specific trade and regulatory capacity building; plastics and packaging solutions; and funding of a maximum residue limits database. The department said each workstream addresses a critical issue identified by specialty crop producers and exporters and these efforts will create new market opportunities and ensure existing markets remain open to U.S. specialty crops.
