Gov. Cuomo Urges Canada to Reconsider New Regulations

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has announced, through a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, opposition to a  proposed regulation that would create a barrier for New York dairy farmers exporting product to Canada.

Over the past few months, New York state has made several attempts to come to an agreement over the Ontario Class 6 regulation and the proposed establishment of a new National Ingredient Strategy that could restrict Ultra Filtered Milk exports from New York. Ultra-filtered milk is used to make products such as cheese, yogurt and skim milk because of how rich it is in protein. If the proposed regulations are seen through it could result in a $50 million market loss for the New York Dairy industry.

Governor Cuomo stated in his letter "I urge our Canadian neighbors to reconsider these potentially harmful regulations and to continue our courteous, mutually beneficial trade relations." While Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney, who is a member of the House Committee on Agriculture  said, "New York dairy farmers produce some of the highest quality products in the world while contributing millions to our local economies – and I want to thank Governor Cuomo for going to bat for these hard working families."

According to a press release, New York exports more to Canada than any country in the world. Last year, bilateral trade relationship totaled $32.93 billion in goods and supported over 500,000 jobs in our region.