International Programs

For over two decades, USRPA has partnered with the USDA Foreign Agriculture Service’s Market Access Program (MAP) for the purpose of developing and maintaining overseas markets for U.S. rice.  USRPA has also received grants for Agriculture Trade Promotion (ATP), the Quality Sample Program (QSP), and the Global Broad-based Initiative (GBI) in the past.  These marketing efforts allow rice farmers direct access to the largest U.S. rice export markets in Mexico and Central America, as well as other parts of the world, while also expanding opportunities in the domestic market.

USRPA conducts a variety of marketing and promotional activities in Mexico, Central America, South America, Morocco, and China in addition to developing market access opportunities in new markets.  Promotional activities underway include school nutrition programs, mobile cooking demonstrations, mass media campaigns, digital marketing, and convention attendance. USRPA also hosts international trade servicing trips and domestic reverse trade servicing trips, connecting rice industry leaders around the world with U.S. rice producers.     

USRPA began monitoring the Chinese rice market in 1998-99 through the work of two experienced market analysts.  With support from FAS posts, these efforts of monitoring Chinese production and consumer issues continues and led to the awarding of funds under the Emerging Markets Program to further assess the Chinese market on behalf of the U.S. rice industry.  These funds were used to conduct Chinese consumer tastings and surveys in upscale supermarkets in several large cities.  Coordinating with FAS, EMAP funded activities were carried out for several years and resulted in the initiative from APHIS to establish a protocol that did not previously exist.  Several years of negotiation between APHIS and AQSIQ (Chinse government counterpart) including the inspection visits led to a final agreement approved by both governments.  This process was supported by both U.S. rice groups.