A great opinion piece on the MPC debate by Ben Yale for Progressive Dairyman. A must read for dairy industry folks! The full story can be found here.
Generally I see disagreements on policy issues based upon different vantage points and positions and it is appropriate to agree to disagree. There are those rare times when such a gentlemanly approach is inappropriate and what is wrong should be called just that.
Some of the arguments regarding imposing higher tariff rates or quotas on milk protein concentrates (MPC) create such a moment. Let me make this point clear up front: I clearly support efforts to bring fairness to the import treatment of milk protein concentrates (MPCs) under the tariff rate quotas of the U.S. For reasons or excuses which gain us nothing, the U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule has no special tariff rate quota for MPC as it does for cheeses, non-fat dry milk (NFDM) and other dairy products. While NFDM is subject to quota tariffs as high as 4 cents a pound plus transportation, imports of MPC40 and above are subject to a minimal duty of only $3.70 per metric ton, or less than a quarter of a cent per pound. Giving foreign producers of this valuable dairy product a virtual free pass to our consumers is wrong.
While I join that fight, I part ways with those who base their challenge to imported MPCs by asserting that all MPCs are foreign in source or claiming that using MPC in products is either illegal or unsafe. We must recognize that MPCs also come from American-produced milk. Once an MPC is in the product, it is not an American MPC or a foreign MPC. It is not the concentration that gives value to the product but the milk protein itself, and Americans consume billions of pounds of milk proteins every year. Only a small percent of those are produced outside of America. When we say bad things about MPC and products that use them, we are saying bad things about our milk.
The American dairyman is rightfully concerned about the absence of import limits on MPCs through inadequate tariff rate quotas, and we all should continue to fight for their inclusion. In that fight we need to argue that foreign products, often subsidized by the governments where produced, should not have an unfair advantage over our domestically produced products. In this fight we must remember that the biggest supplier of MPC in America are American dairymen, and we should never, never falsely argue that this wonderful wholesome product we produce, especially its valuable protein component, is unsafe to our consumers. I hope we can agree on all of that.
Source: Progressive Dairyman