Our members account for the overwhelming majority of this nation's commercial pork production.
International trade is vital to the future of American agriculture.
As the world's largest exporter of agricultural products we have a critical interest in the development and maintenance of strong and effective rules for international trade. This is especially true for pork, the world's meat of choice, which represents 44 percent of daily meat protein intake in the world. Prescribing policy that levels the playing field for trade is a high priority for U.S. pork producers. We are not only the lowest cost producers in the world but we also recognize that our future relies on continuing to expand our export markets. We also recognize the importance of applying equivalent inspection procedures to the 37 countries now approved to export meat to the United State and some 25 countries waiting for that consideration.