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April 10, 2015 CapitalPress.com 13 Vilsack: Enormous opportunity hinges on trade deal, TPA By CAROL RYAN DUMAS Capital Press The U.S. could realize an additional $123 billion in overall trade activity and $11 billion in agricultural sales through the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, but that won’t happen un- less Congress grants President Obama trade promotion authority, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a con- ference call with small business owners last week. He said TPP is an enormous op- portunity to expand U.S. exports of high-value agricultural products by reining in foreign tariffs that run as high as 200 percent in some of the other 11 negotiating countries, he said. Asia alone is home to 525 million middle-class consumers interested in those U.S. products. That population is forecast to grow to as much as 3.2 bil- lion in the next 15 years — 10 times the populations of the entire U.S., he said. Without so-called “fast track” au- thority, the president will have a diffi- cult time concluding negotiations this year, he said. Deals made without such authority are subject to amendment by Congress. Trade promotion authority limits Con- gress to an up or down vote on any pro- posed pact. Democrats and trade unions have rallied strong opposition to the trade pact and to granting trade promotion authority to the president, contending a wide array of policy issues in free trade agreements — such as labor, health and environmental standards — demand more input from Congress. They also argue granting trade pro- motion authority will lead to a repeat of previous trade deals that they say low- ered U.S. wages and sent jobs overseas. Ag organizations, however, have largely supported both fast track and the negotiations. Vilsack said foreign agricultural trade is critically important to both the rural and national economies, with 30 percent of all U.S. agricultural sales connected to exports. The U.S. exported $152.5 billion in agricultural products in fiscal year 2014, and record agricultural export sales in four of the last six years represents 1.1 million in U.S. jobs, Vilsack said. In addition to the opportunity to in- crease ag exports, TPP also offers the opportunity to point out to the rest of the world the need to continue to focus on higher standards of labor, environ- ment and intellectual property protec- tion, he said. “I think we have in front of us with TPP negotiations a fundamental ques- tion: whether we’re going to allow the United States to lead that effort or whether we’re going to cede that oppor- tunity to China,” he said. China is in the process of negoti- ating an all-Asia trade agreement that won’t be as concerned with reducing trade tariffs or opening up opportuni- ties for U.S. products and clearly won’t address those higher standards, he said. “So it’s important for us to get en- gaged in this, and it’s important for Congress now to provide this president the same authority in terms of trade pro- motion that every president’s had since Franklin Delano Roosevelt,” he said. There is serious, organized, vocal opposition to TPA and trade agree- ments, he said. “We need a correspondingly well organized and powerful counter mes- sage, and that can come from small business,” he said. Nearly 300,000 small businesses across the country are engaged in ex- port activity, hiring people, maintaining jobs and spreading the value of Ameri- can system through trade, he said. “These are powerful stories that need to be told. It’s important that busi- ness owners make their voice heard,” he said. Second major container carrier stops visiting Portland Blackleg PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The Port of Portland might be almost completely out of the container business. Hanjin Shipping left in February, taking nearly 80 percent of the Port of Port- land’s container business with it. Now there’s concern that Hapag-Lloyd, the other major carrier, has ended Port- land service. “Although Hapag-Lloyd has not made an official an- nouncement or given notifi- cation that it will no longer be calling on Terminal 6, its current vessel schedule does not show any such calls for the near future,” Elvis Gan- da, CEO of port operator ICTSI Oregon, told The Or- egonian. Not long ago, more than 1,000 businesses, primarily in Idaho, Oregon and Wash- ington, relied on the contain- er terminal to get their goods to or from international mar- kets. Having to send cargo by truck or rail to or from an out-of-state port adds costs. The Hanjin pullout hap- pened amid continuing labor turmoil at the Port of Port- land. ICTSI, a major global ports operator, signed a 25- year lease in 2010 to operate the Port of Portland’s strug- gling container terminal. It represented the company’s first venture in the Unit- confirmed in N. Idaho canola fields Researchers work to protect Washington brassica seed industry By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press A view of the Port of Portland is seen in this file photo. The port is losing a second container carrier. ed States, and management quickly clashed with Ameri- can labor. The union described the operator’s labor-management model as “authoritarian and intimidation-based,” and said worker morale was low. Ganda said the workers staged slowdowns to sabo- tage the company and drive it out of business. Agriculture industry offi- cials have expressed concern that shipping goods from Puget Sound will become more expensive without Port- land competing for the same business. Hapag-Lloyd represent- ed about 20 percent of Port- land’s container business, but more than 90 percent of the Port of Lewiston’s, upriver in Idaho. Pea and lentil farm- ers in Idaho ship their prod- uct up the Columbia Snake River channel to the Port of Portland throughout the year, except for the yearly lock Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press maintenance. “Hapag-Lloyd has been a wonderful supporter of peas and lentils in our region for decades, so it would be a huge blow to our area if Ha- pag-Lloyd were to discontin- ue Portland,” said David Do- eringsfeld, Port of Lewiston general manager. Blueberry farmers plan to fight diabetes in children By MITCH LIES Online For the Capital Press www.bbfamilyhealth.org A nonprofit organization founded by blueberry farm- ers is launching a campaign April 11 to raise awareness of Type 2 diabetes and its effects on child health. The Blueberry Family Health Foundation is tim- ing the launch of its first campaign with the April 11 opening of the Flori- da Blueberry Festival in Brookesville, Fla. Located near Tampa, the area is one of two communities serv- ing as pilot-project sites for the campaign. The oth- er is Portland, where the Blueberry Family Health Foundation campaign will be featured at the LifeWise Oregon Berry Festival, July 17 and 18 at the Ecotrust Event Space, 721 NW Ninth Ave. Blueberry farmers from across the nation were be- hind the formation of the foundation in September 2013, including Fall Creek Farm and Nursery in Lowell, Ore.; Homegrown Organic Farms in Porterville, Calif.; Thomas Creek Farms, also in Porterville; HBF Inter- national in McMinnville, Ore.; Agricare in Jefferson, Ore.; Naturipe, Family Tree Farms and Driscoll’s, all from California; several farms from Florida; a Mich- igan farm; a British Colum- bia farm; Atlantic Blueberry Co. from Hammonton, N.J.; and farms in Georgia, North Carolina and elsewhere. The organization’s board of directors includes Amelie Aust, owner and board mem- ber for Fall Creek Farm and Nursery; Karen M. Avinelis, president of Thomas Creek Farms and representatives of the financial and diabetes medical professions. Kari Rosenfeld, sister of Fall Creek Farm and Nursery President Dave Brazelton, serves as exec- Kari Rosenfeld utive director of the foun- dation. Rosenfeld has been ac- tive in the diabetes commu- nity since 1993, when her 7-year-old daughter was di- agnosed with Type 1 diabe- tes. Rosenfeld has extensive management experience in for-profit and nonprofit or- ganizations and has created and led national and inter- national health-awareness programs and campaigns, including the American Di- abetes Association Youth Advocacy Program. The foundation’s Acti- vate the Awareness Cam- paign includes messaging through Florida Blueberry Festival advertisements, which are being broadcast across four regional tele- vision stations and will air approximately 800 times. It will include message-shar- ing with upwards of 60,000 festival attendees over the course of the two-day festi- val, and it will include dis- tribution of coloring activi- ty sheets to help kids learn about eating a “healthy rainbow of fruits and vege- tables.” Rosenfeld said the or- ganization developed its campaign materials with help from leading pediatric endocrinologists and nutri- tionists. “The plan is to leverage our relationships in the local health-care and community organizations to post and distribute these materials in the venues where those most at risk have access to help, while at the same time engaging local media to raise awareness among care providers and the general public,” Rosenfeld said. Rosenfeld characterized the foundation’s work as “a multi-year philanthrop- ic strategic plan to raise awareness of children’s risk of Type 2 diabetes.” “Because a key barrier to prevention of Type 2 di- “We have created a campaign to raise awareness that 1 in 3 children are now facing Type 2 diabetes, and that it is preventable.” Kari Rosenfeld, executive director of the Blueberry Family Health Foundation abetes in children is lack of awareness, we have created a campaign to raise aware- ness that 1 in 3 children are now facing Type 2 diabetes, and that it is preventable,” Rosenfeld said. The foundation is invit- ing people to join and get involved in its effort, espe- cially healthy food and pro- duce organizations. “This organization is open and eager to work with all individuals and compa- nies,” Rosenfeld said. “If you want to help shine a spotlight on a newly brew- ing health epidemic where your products are part of the solution, we are eager to talk about how to scale the program and impact your community,” she said. Researchers have con- firmed the fungal disease blackleg in 10 of 11 canola fields in northern Idaho. The effect ranges from 1 percent to 30-40 percent of the fields, said Karen Sow- ers, outreach specialist for oilseeds for Washington State University Extension. “I don’t think it’s necessar- ily cause for a panic attack but since last spring, we’ve been upping the education cam- paign on awareness,” she said. Blackleg affects brassica crops, including canola and rapeseed. Tim Paulitz, USDA Ag- ricultural Research Service plant pathologist, believes blackleg has likely estab- lished in the area from Mos- cow to Grangeville, after isolated incidents in Bonners Ferry in 2009 and near Lewis- ton last fall. “It’s at the point where those growers are going to have to manage it,” Paulitz said. Sowers and Lindsey du Toit, a WSU vegetable seed pathologist, say this outbreak isn’t as bad as a blackleg out- break in Oregon’s Willamette Valley last year. Du Toit said farmers should only buy certified, treated seed that’s been tested for blackleg. In the vegetable seed in- dustry, blackleg is a zero-tol- erance pathogen, du Toit said. Sowers recommends growers check their fields, examining leaves and stems for lesions. Fungicide can be applied. “It won’t kill the disease if it’s already there, but it will prevent non-infected plants from getting infected,” Sow- ers said. 15-1/#4N