WTO Win & Pot Hearings
WTO Win & Pot Hearings plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.
The United States has won a major case at the World Trade Organization on behalf of the nation’s chicken producers. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack joined U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker to make the announcement Friday. Froman explains the ruling.
FROMAN: For years we have been concerned about other countries rejecting costs based on U.S. producers books and records and instead using the weight of a product to allocate production costs. This methodology artificially inflates and creates anti-dumping margins. China had adopted this flawed approach and the WTO panel found that China breeched WTO rules.
Washington State is still struggling with the decision to make recreation marijuana use legal and will be holding public hearings across the state as part of the process to implement the ruling. Washington State’s Liquor Control Board will regulate growing, distribution and sales. Initiative 502 was approved by voters last November and it could take until some time next year to see stores open in the state.
Now with today’s Food Forethought, here’s Lacy Gray.
As of this week members of Congress are enjoying their five week August recess. I have to say in all honesty that I hope they aren’t enjoying it too much. By that I mean that I am hoping that while they are back in their home districts they will be bombarded by their constituents at every town hall meeting, every meet and greet, and all other public gatherings asking them the hard questions about why they can’t seem to get past all the political posturing, finger pointing, and flat out melodrama and get on with the job of passing a Farm Bill that eliminates outdated and unnecessary programs and services without the loss of much needed programs with proven track records. One of the hard questions that we as constituents should ask of ourselves is one often used by H.R. Departments in followup on potential employees. Would you rehire this person based on their work performance? If answered in all honesty and sincerity, things could turn out to be very interesting come election time in 2014. Perhaps many members of Congress might want to consider that they, like the current farm bill, are living on borrowed time.
Thanks Lacy. That’s today’s Northwest Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.
