Milk Producers Challenge Customs on Imports

April 30

In an effort to stem the surge of imported dairy proteins that are circumventing U.S. trade laws, the National Milk Producers Federation has filed a formal challenge to how the U.S. Customs Service classifies dairy products such as milk protein concentrate (MPC). The legal action initiated is designed in part to shed light on the claim that a significant portion of U.S. imports of MPC are not truly concentrated milk proteins but blends of other dairy products such as skim milk powder, whey powder, and casein.

NMPF says the blends are intended to take unfair advantage of U.S. trade policies that allow the unrestricted entry of MPC but not the individual components found in the blended products into the United States.

"The U.S. Customs Service is the gatekeeper for these imported dairy products, but they've been asleep at the switch on this issue for too long," said Jerry Kozak, president and CEO of NMPF. "The action we're taking should serve notice that while Customs has been turning a blind eye to misclassified dairy imports, U.S. dairy farmers will not."

Kozak said U.S. dairy farmers have been disadvantaged economically by imports of blended proteins mislabeled as MPC, imports of which have surged six-fold since the mid-1990s.

The NMPF action initiates a legal challenge under Section 516 of U.S. tariff law, which allows interested parties to challenge the tariff classification of imported items. The Section 516 petition asks the U.S. Customs service to report on whether imported dairy products such as MPC are properly classified according to tariff regulations.