The CWT is a programme set up by NMPF, a farm commodity organisation representing most of the dairy marketing co-operatives serving the US, where farmers pay the voluntary levy to the co-op to assist dairy product exports to countries across the world. So far in 2015, 1,066 requests have been received. It is broadly comparable to Ornua (formerly the Irish Dairy Board).
At present, there are 10 co-ops active in bidding through CWT. CWT accept bids for cheese, butter and whole milk powder (WMP) on a weekly basis.
During the discussion on whether the levy should be increased, Tom Balmer, executive vice-president of NMPF said: “We can operate with the resource we have available, but if we had more we could move into more markets.’’
In 2015, 37% of US cheese exports, 92% of US butter exports and 45% of WMP exports – representing 23.8 million pounds (10,818 tonnes), 28.1 million pounds (12,772 tonnes) and 22.3 million pounds (10,136 tonnes) were assisted by CWT.
CWT has been talked about in Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) discussions, with other countries both jealous and attacking the voluntary co-operative-run programme.
The TPP, only recently concluded, is a multibillion dollar trade agreement between America and a group of Pacific countries.
Source: Farmers Journal