Senate Farm Bill Debate Begins

Senate Panel Passes Immigration Bill

RR Alfalfa Deregulation Legality Affirmed

Higher Honey Bee Mortality Verified

Sue And Settle Cases Addressed

Safety Engineers Seek I2P2 Rule

W. Hemisphere Fair Promotes US Exports

Cotton Days Celebrated Across Asia

Sales Steady, Shipments Stay Strong

Prior to adjourning for the Memorial Day recess, the Senate began debate on the Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2013 (S.954). During this week's debate on the bill, the Senate rejected several amendments to modify the SNAP program and rejected an amendment (45-54) by Sen. Shaheen (D-NH) to significantly modify the sugar program.

The Senate debated several crop insurance amendments including one by Sens. Feinstein (D-CA) and McCain (R-AZ) to deny premium subsidies for tobacco insurance, which was rejected (44-52), and overwhelmingly approved (59-33) an amendment by Sens. Durbin (D-IL) and Coburn (R-OK) that reduces crop insurance premium subsidies by 15 percentage points for all crop insurance products for individuals with an adjusted gross income (AGI) that exceeds $750,000.

The Durbin-Coburn amendment was adopted during floor debate on the farm bill last year, but the provision was not included in the legislation being considered by the Senate because an agreement between commodity and conservation groups resulted in the retention of a provision to require growers who receive premium subsidies to comply with the same conservation requirements as required for participation in commodity programs. As a result of the agreement, the conservation groups supported removal of the AGI provisions in the committee-passed bill.

The Senate also debated and approved (94-0) an amendment by Sen. Hagan (D-NC) to strengthen enforcement to prevent fraud and abuse in crop insurance.

Among the more than 180 amendments that have been filed are three amendments offered by Sen. Flake (R-AZ) that would: strike the STAX program for upland cotton; eliminate SCO coverage for all eligible commodities, including upland cotton; and require the Secretary of Agriculture to identify reductions in cotton program benefits sufficient to offset the cost of transfer payments made to the Brazilian Cotton Institute under the terms of the Framework Agreement negotiated between the US and Brazilian governments in '10.

Ironically, the amendment to eliminate STAX comes immediately after a speech by the Secretary of Agriculture in which he said the cotton provisions (STAX) in the Senate bill can be the basis to successfully resolve the World Trade Organization case.

There also are amendments which would reduce funding for the Market Access Program (MAP) and limit activities that can be conducted utilizing MAP funds (Coburn, R-OK), and an amendment that would prohibit commodity check-off programs from being mandatory even if approved by growers (Cruz, R-TX).

Before the Senate recessed, Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) announced that Chairman Stabenow (D-MI) and Sen. Cochran (R-MS) were working to reach agreement on a list of amendments that would be debated before final passage. If an agreement on a finite number of amendments and a time limit can be reached, then the Senate likely will return to debate the measure on June 3. If not, the Senate may instead begin debate on the Immigration Reform legislation (see next story) and delay consideration of the farm legislation.

By a 13-5 vote, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the "The Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013," a bipartisan immigration reform bill. Sens. Bennet (D-CO), Feinstein (D-CA), Hatch (R-UT) and Rubio (R-FL) helped broker the agreement's agricultural labor language.

The amended package, likely to be voted on by the full Senate after the Memorial Day recess,includes provisions for agricultural employers, such as a new visa system, and enforcement of E-Verify, which would be delayed for agricultural employers. Under the bill, current undocumented workers would be eligible for a new Blue Card if they choose to remain working in agriculture. After five to seven years, a Blue Card worker can become eligible for a Green Card if they meet certain conditions.

A new agricultural guest worker program would be established with two options: an "at will" option (W-3 visa) for workers to accept a job with an authorized agricultural employer under a three-year visa; or a "contract basis" option (W-2 visa) for workers who accept a specific contract under a three-year visa. The bill also creates a national wage rate for various agricultural occupations. The H-2A visa program would sunset after the new visa program is operational.

The NCC has joined with other agricultural organizations in cosigning a letter, sent to House and Senate leadership and to all House and Senate Members, encouraging the development of immigration reform legislation that enables a legal and stable workforce for agriculture.

On May 17, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued its decision to uphold a district court ruling against a coalition of environmental organizations and organic farmers that challenged USDA's decision to fully deregulate Roundup Ready alfalfa (RRA).

The Center for Food Safety, the Sierra Club, Beyond Pesticides and several other groups alleged that USDA's Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) failed to adequately consider the impacts of pollen drift and increased use of glyphosate in its decision to deregulate RRA under the Plant Protection Act (PPA). The groups also alleged that APHIS failed to consult with the Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) on the potential adverse effects on endangered and threatened species and failed to adequately consider partial deregulation as an alternative.

The court ruled that APHIS did not violate the PPA, the National Environmental Policy Act or the Endangered Species Act when it made its determination of non-regulated status for RRA. The appeals court found that although APHIS acknowledged that pollen drift could economically hurt conventional and organic farmers, the PPA does not give the agency the authority to regulate the adverse economic effects because they are not the result of plant pest harms. The court also found that APHIS does not have authority to regulate the use of herbicides, an authority belonging to EPA. Finally, the court found that APHIS had no legal obligation under the Endangered Species Act to consult with the FWS on endangered species issues and no obligation under the National Environmental Policy Act to consider partial regulation because it had "no discretion" to continue regulating the alfalfa crop once it determined the crop was not a plant pest.

The Center for Food Safety, the lead plaintiff in the case, announced its intention to appeal the decision and "take other legal actions against USDA and EPA."

On May 7, USDA released an annual survey, conducted by the Apiary Inspectors of America and the Bee Informed Partnership, showing that the mortality rate for honey bees in the United States over the previous seven months ending April 30 was more than twice what is considered sustainable.

The 31% mortality rate over the period was nine percentage points higher than the same period the previous year, confirming earlier anecdotal reports from the field that bee populations suffered severe losses last winter. Of the 6,000 commercial beekeepers responding in the survey, 70% reported losses above 14%, which is considered the economically sustainable threshold. The latest losses were the seventh consecutive winter during which mortality in honey bees was above either sustainability benchmark.

The survey did not pinpoint causes of the high mortality rate but did indicate some problem areas. For example, more colonies "dwindled away" in contrast to the sudden deaths associated with colony collapse disorder. This finding points to causes that include pesticides, parasites, disease and the shortage of forage resulting from widespread drought.

Another trend cited in this survey is that beekeepers who later took honey bees to California to pollinate almonds reported higher losses than beekeepers who did not take their bees to pollinate almonds. "Nearly 20% of the beekeepers who pollinated almonds lost 50% or more of their colonies," the survey found.

According to beekeepers and apiculturists in California, several contributing factors likely played roles. Many of the bees arriving in the almond grove were already weakened to the point that in previous years they would not have been rented. The weakened state of the bees was the result of an early spring that caught many beekeepers by surprise. Subsequently, many of the beekeepers fell behind in treating their hives for Varroa mites, a serious parasite of honey bees. There also was a lack of forage for the bees that require a balanced selection of pollen to maintain health.

Environmentalists have developed a legal mechanism to advance their regulatory agendas by suing an agency and then using the court system to negotiate settlement agreements that set rulemaking requirements favorable to their views.

In a new report, the US Chamber of Commerce identifies 60 "sue and settle" instances between '09 and '12. Those cases have resulted in EPA proposing 100 new regulations, including the Utility Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) rule, the Chesapeake Bay Clean Water Act rules and various regional haze implementation rules, the report says. The report also alleges that this practice is utilized in other agencies from the Interior Dept. to the Agriculture Dept.

"It is clear that the sue and settle process is increasingly being used as a technique to shape agencies' regulatory agendas, without input from the public or the regulated community," said Bill Kovacs, the chamber's vice president for the environment, technology and regulatory affairs, in a statement accompanying the release of his group's report.

On the basis that the practice deprives the public and the regulated entities of the ability to have meaningful input in the content of those final agreements, Sen. Grassley (R-IA) and Rep. Collins (R-GA) are pushing their "Sunshine for Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act," which would force agencies to publish proposed consent decrees and settlement agreements for public comment before they are filed with courts. Agencies also would have to report to Congress about their use of consent decrees and settlement agreements while courts weighing proposed decrees and settlements would have to ensure compliance with normal rulemaking procedures.

In a May 16 letter to President Obama, the American Society of Safety Engineers asked the president to direct the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) to move forward with its Injury and Illness Prevention Program (I2P2) rulemaking.

OSHA officials have said the rule will cast upon employers the burden of finding and fixing hazards in their workplaces. Labor supporters have embraced the rule as a broad measure that could, by holding employers accountable for their own hazards, solve the resource problem that OSHA has long faced -- too many workplaces and not enough inspectors.

However, the rule, which faces strong opposition from the business community, has not moved forward. A small-business review, one of the earliest steps in the rulemaking process, was to begin in January, but that deadline was not met. Earlier, the agency had said it would initiate the small business review in March '12. No proposed regulatory text has been released publicly.

Some 600 individual meetings took place between brands, retailers and garment makers at the COTTON USA Western Hemisphere Sourcing Fair which facilitated the development of business relationships to increase US cotton yarn and fabric exports in that hemisphere.

The event, held April 29-May 2 in Panama City, Panama, brought together 13 US mills, eight US retailers, one European retailer, eight Latin American retailers and 42 apparel manufacturing companies from Colombia, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Peru.

The Sourcing Fair included a conference session with a panel of experts who addressed the cotton price situation and gave a US retail and apparel outlook. In addition, the US mills and retailers had two days of private meetings with C. American, Mexican and Andean textile and apparel executives to discuss business opportunities.

Participating US textile mills included: Alamac American Knits; American Denimatrix; Buhler Quality Yarns Corp.; CCW; Central Textiles/Cotswold Industries; Contempora Fabrics; Frontier Spinning Mills; Hamrick Mills, Inc.; Jo-Mar Spinning; Parkdale; Swisstex Direct; Tuscarora Yarns; and Zagis USA.

Participating retailers and brands included: Jumbo (Cencosud) and Almacenes Exito (Colombia); Almacenes Siman (El Salvador); C&A and Soriana (Mexico); Lacoste (El Salvador); Max Mara (Italy); and Carhartt, Inc., Charlotte Russe, Eddie Bauer, New Balance, Pacific Sunwear, REI Private Brands, Target, VF Panama and Zumba Fitness (United States).

Industry leadership, top brands/retailers, local celebrities and the media attended the annual Cotton Day celebrations throughout Asia – sponsored by Cotton Council International (CCI). Consumer and trade events highlighted the fun, fashionable and sustainable elements of cotton, the world's favorite fiber. Initial media results indicated the events had tremendous consumer and trade outreach in Thailand, Japan, Taiwan and Korea.

More than 400 industry and media celebrated the fifth Cotton Day in Thailand, which was headlined by The Honorable Kristie Anne Kenney, US Ambassador to Thailand. The event featured a fashion show of clothing made with US cotton from 26 COTTON USA licensee retail brands. The event marked the introduction of the "Cotton Ambassador" who will attend more than 2,500 points of sale beginning in June. It also featured the COTTON USA Thailand Facebook page (www.facebook.com/COTTONUSA.Thailand) CCI launched last year that now has more than 8,200 active fans.

Cotton Day Japan, showcased by the COTTON USA Japan website (www.cottonusa.jp), celebrated a decade of recognizing celebrities for their commitment to cotton. Maki Horikita, a Japanese actress and the '13 COTTON USA Ambassador, highlighted the events. CCI presented the COTTON USA award to Ryoko Yonekura, a Japanese actress and fashion model, and the family of Junichi Ishida, a Japanese actor and television personality.

In Taiwan, Cotton Day featured a "Pure Cotton, Pure Fun" children's fashion show with COTTON USA licensee Les Enphants. Kingone, the '13 COTTON USA Taiwan Ambassador, sang his cotton-inspired theme song. Actress/musician Fan Bingbing joined the event and spoke to media about her love of cotton.

The COTTON USA Showcase in Korea featured a collaboration of pure cotton collections from famous designers Ko Tae Yong and Kwak Hyun Joo. The fashion show generated significant media coverage, and more than 200 industry representatives attended that 12th Korean Cotton Day.

More than 1,000 industry representatives turned out for the Cotton Day events, and the advertising value is expected to exceed $10 million, increasing COTTON USA Mark awareness and preference for 100% cotton products.

Net export sales for the week ending on May 16 were 110,300 bales (480-lb). This brings total '12-13 sales to approximately 13.3 million bales. Total sales at the same point in the '11-12 marketing year were approximately 12.4 million bales. Total new crop ('13-14) sales are 1.7 million bales.

Shipments for the week were 261,700 bales, bringing total exports to date to 10.9 million bales, compared with the 9.2 million bales at the comparable point in the '11-12 marketing year.