02/08/06 M.A.P. threatened again?

02/08/06 M.A.P. threatened again?

The last two years have been glory years for the U.S.D.A.'s federal Market Access Program, the program that has aided the tree fruit industry and other Northwest specialty crop producers in gaining and strengthening access for their products in global markets. For years, regardless of which political party resided in the White House, funding for M.A.P., if not the very existence of the M.A.P. program itself, has been threatened. But the last two fiscal years have seen M.A.P. funded at full amounts of $200 million dollars. However, the President's proposed 2007 federal budget reverts back to previous concerns about M.A.P. in the minds of the program's supporters. HASTINGS: The Market Access Program is a program I have long championed. The proposal by the President is to reduce that figure when we finally got to the full figure last year, so I am critical of that part. And well U.S. Representative Doc Hastings of Washington and other M.A.P. supporters should be, considering the reduction is by half. That is, proposed M.A.P. funding for 2007 comes in at $100 million dollars. U.S.D.A. officials say the reduction is a reflection of its change of focus on market access, from a marketing and promotion standpoint to one that faces challenges from U.S. exports from other countries, such as plant health safety, and biotechnology. But according to U.S.D.A. Secretary Mike Johanns, that does not mean market access is still not a priority, and is reflected in the increasing number of bi-lateral, regional, and global trade agreements.
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