Upcoming Conference: Emerging Issues in Global Animal Product Trade

The 2012 conference on Emerging Issues in Global Animal Product Trade will be held at the offices of USDA-Economic Research Service on September 27-28, 2012. The theme of the conference is "Assessing the Effects of Free Trade Agreements on Global Meat, Poultry, and Dairy Trade". It is sponsored by the Economic Research Service, Farm Foundation, NFP, the Larry Combest Endowed Chair for Agricultural Competitiveness, and the S-1043 Regional Research Group.

You can learn more about the conference, including how to register, by visiting its page on the ERS site. Here's the description of the conference as provided by the organizers:

Trade agreements are important to expanding U.S. meat, poultry, and dairy exports. The passage of U.S. free trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama represents substantial and immediate growth opportunities for U.S. animal products. The presently negotiated Trans-Pacific Partnership could also lead to an expansion of U.S. meat, poultry, and dairy exports. The primary objective of the conferences is to provide a forum where researchers, industry experts, market participants, and policymakers can meet to increase their knowledge of free trade agreements and their importance in eliminating barriers to global animal product trade.

The two-day conference will feature invited and selected presentations. Guest speakers will include researchers, analysts, and policymakers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service, and other Government agencies, international organizations, academia, and representatives from producer and export groups such as the U.S. Meat Export Federation, USA Poultry & Egg Export Council, American Meat Institute, National Pork Producers Council, and the U.S. Dairy Export Council.