New U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement is good for the industry, says NPA

The Natural Products Association (NPA; Washington, D.C.) says that the trilateral United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) signed by President Trump on January 29, 2020 has positive implications for the natural products industry. Natural products positively impacted by the agreement include whey and other dairy-based products.

Under the USMCA, Canada will provide new tariff rate quotas (TRQs) exclusively to the United States on a range of dairy products. Specifically, TRQs for whey powder will increase to 689 MT for the first year, to reach 4,135 MT by the sixth year, then growing 1% for additional 4 years. Whey’s over quota tariff will be eliminated at the end of 10 years. For products of natural milk constituents, TRQs will increase to 460 MT, to reach 2,760 MT by the sixth year, and growing 1% for an additional 13 years.

The agreement also calls for good regulatory practices from all three countries as well as regulatory alignment. “The Parties shall seek to collaborate to improve the alignment of their respective regulations and regulatory activities for cosmetic products through work in relevant international initiatives, as appropriate, such as those aimed at harmonization, as well as regional initiatives that support those international initiatives,” states

, article 12.B.4 of the USMCA.

are also strengthened under the agreement, says NPA. Largely resembling the provisions in the Trans-Pacific Partnership abandoned by the U.S. in 2016, the USMCA strengthens copyright and patent protections such as giving biologic drugs ten years of data exclusivity protection and lengthening the protection on copyright to the term of the author’s life plus 70 years. Canada’s domestic law currently only protects biologics for eight years and its current copyright law only provides protection for the life of the author plus 50 years.

“The Natural Products Association shares the Trump Administration’s commitment to protecting American jobs and growing the US economy,” said Daniel Fabricant, PhD, president and CEO of NPA, in a press release.  “This is a good deal for the small businesses that make up the majority of our industry and the millions of consumers who use nutritional supplements every day to support their healthy lifestyles. We applaud the Administration for reaching this deal and look forward to finding more ways to grow the economy and create jobs together.”