Letlow Calls on U.S. Trade Representative and Acting U.S. Ambassador to the UK to Help Protect U.S. Rice Exports

WASHINGTON -- Congresswoman Julia Letlow (LA-05) today called on U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and the acting U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom Yael Lempert to work diligently to prevent the adoption of a zero-tolerance policy by the UK, as the European Union did earlier this year, for the detection of Propiconazole in imported foods.

Propiconazole is a fungicide commonly applied to rice prior to the maturity of the grain to prevent kernel smut, which can have a significant negative impact on the quality and value of the rice. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducts regulatory, scientific reviews for registered fungicides and has determined Propiconazole safe for use. As a result, the EPA allows for 7 parts per million (PPM) of Propiconazole residue limits for rice.

“A zero-tolerance policy will put our rice growers at a tremendous competitive disadvantage,” said Letlow, who sits on the House Agriculture Committee. “Additional regulations would significantly undermine U.S. growers, creating far greater regulatory burdens and jeopardizing U.S. food production.”

The European Union (EU) failed to renew the registration for Propiconazole, banning the use of the fungicide. In addition, the EU issued a new regulation in February that prevents any imported foods beginning in September 2021 from having any detectable amounts of Propiconazole.

As the United Kingdom seeks to issue individual limits for Propiconazole, Letlow asks Ambassador Tai and Acting Ambassador Lempert to help ensure that any limits adopted do not fall below the EU’s current limit of 1.5 PPM, which the U.S. rice industry has always been successful at meeting.

According to the U.S. Rice Federation, the United Kingdom is the single largest market for U.S. rice sales in Europe. Letlow added that rice is one of Louisiana’s top agricultural exports, generating more than $308 million in economic impact for the state’s rural economies.

Letlow’s letters follow a call by Letlow last week to the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Matthew Tueller to help restore a trade relationship first signed in 2016 between the United States and Iraq to purchase U.S. rice. Since the Memorandum of Understanding, the U.S. has sent 390,000 metric tons of U.S. rice to Iraq with the last purchase occurring almost two years ago.