Bipartisan legislation introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives aims to improve the United States’ ability to export more meat and poultry by addressing the shortage of cold storage facilities.
The Fortifying Refrigeration Infrastructure and Developing Global Exports (FRIDGE) Act would direct the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to negotiate contracts to deliver needs assessments, training and other technical assistance to enhance infrastructure construction, which includes cold chain storage in new and developing foreign markets.
The bill was introduced by Reps. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa; Tracey Mann, R-Kansas; Jim Costa, D-California; and Salud Carbajal, D-California. All four are members of the House Agriculture Committee.
“America excels in exporting value-added agricultural products like protein and grain to the world,” Mann said in a press release. “The lack of cold storage and distribution, however, is a significant barrier to expanding and diversifying American markets. To remain the world leader in market access, we must make strong investments in cold chain technology.”
Feenstra said he repeatedly heard from farmers during a recent tour of Iowa about how opening new export markets is vital for the agriculture economy, but without the critical infrastructure, producers are limited in their abilities to export poultry products.
Among the supporters of the legislation is the National Turkey Federation (NTF).
“The National Turkey Federation supports the FRIDGE Act, which would expand the tools available in the ability to export more U.S. turkey products to countries that are restricted by access to proper cold storage,” said Leslee Oden, NTF Sr. Vice President of Legislative Affairs. “Currently, limited cold storage vastly restricts certain country’s ability to safely store turkey products in their home country due to the lack of cold storage space. The FRIDGE Act would assist in building the necessary infrastructure essential to the expansion of all agriculture products, including turkey products into new, developing locations around the world.”
