Making Media Work for your Food Business

Have you wondered whether your food business would benefit from Facebook or Twitter? How useful is television and radio advertising in promoting businesses? How did that company get that article written about it in the newspaper?

If you have asked yourself any of these questions when it comes to your food business, then you want to be sure to attend “Making Media Work for your Food Business.”

The program is scheduled for Tuesday, July 28, in Raleigh. Program cost is $35, including materials and breakfast and lunch. Save $5 and register by July 1.

For more information, read the Commissioner’s comments in his press release:

Get the registration form here

Go South! Vegetable Grower Directory

What is North Carolina’s largest produce export market? If you are in the produce industry, you probably already know that it is Canada.

But did you know that there is a PR firm in Canada whose job it is to promote Southern US produce? In fact, they regularly get requests for your North Carolina products!

However, if the PR firm does not know who you are and what you produce, they can not refer your products to Canadian Buyers.

That problem is easily solved. Just register with the Go South! Program with their grower profile. It takes just few minutes and the service is free, thanks to USDA funding.

Any questions, contact Faye Clack in Canada directly at Phone: 905-206-0577 or by e-mail at astuart@fayeclack.com. NCDA&CS international marketing is always ready to help as well at export@ncmail.net or at 919-733-7912.

See you in Canada and remember to keep your stick on the ice!

Click here for the Go South! Grower Profile

Soybean Export Opportunities at the Qingdao Qianwan Bonded Port

Qingdao Qianwan Bonded Port has just been approved for construction and operation by China central government. The Bonded port allow oversea suppliers to enjoy more favorable policies to sell their products directly to china end market under consignment basis.

With the approval of bonded port, the Qingdao port group company is expanding storage and consignment service covering more varieties of commodities. Local CIQ ( China Exit&Entry Inspection and Quarantine Bureau) and local Customs Bureau have already endorsed for policies break through on the sector of agricultural products.

For the import of US yellow soybean, it traditionally requires the following documentation from china importers:
Importer Registration Form
Quarantine Permit
Agricultural Transgene Organism Identification Permit
Agricultural Transgene Organism Safety Permit
US yellow soybeans usually can’t be imported to china until SPECIFIC china importer obtained all the permit required.

Now, with the policies break through, soybeans will be imported to our bonded facility WITHOUT specific china importer. Our bonded facility will be responsible to receive cargo at port of Qingdao . At the time of cargo is sold to specific buyer, all the permits from specific china buyer are still required if cargo sold to china buyer.

Contact:
Tang Qinggang / Song Guoliang
Qingdao Port Group Company-International Bonded Logistics Center
Email: shiptang@yahoo.com

NCDA Welcomes Larry R. L. Tseng, New Director General of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Atlanta

May 27 – N.C. Representative Larry Brown introduced to NCDA the new Director General of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Atlanta, Larry R. L. Tseng. TECO has a long history of fostering the Sister State program with North Carolina. The TECO office offered to assist North Carolina exporters in finding markets for their products in Taiwan. NCDA in return offered to host the Taiwan Goodwill mission to North Carolina when it travels to the United States next fall.














From Left to Right – Tom Slade, Edward Ling-wen Tao, Rep. Larry Brown, David Smith, Larry R. L. Tseng, Peter Thornton and Huijin Chuang

Welcome to the first edition of NCDA&CS’s International Marketing newsletter!

Welcome to the first edition of NCDA&CS’s International Marketing newsletter!

Spring 2009

My name is Tony Gunter. I am the Forest Products International trade specialist with the NCDA&CS working in the international marketing section of the department and now the editor of “international’s” new newsletter.

Our first recipients (a.k.a. “victims”) of this newsletter are strictly in house here at NCDA&CS. We are on the learning curve of some new software to help us produce and publish this new newsletter through the department’s web site. We are enlisting your input and help in ironing out some wrinkles we may have with the publication. We will publish a couple of in house runs before we distribute it to North Carolina companies and other places. This also gives us a unique opportunity to introduce our office to our own agency personnel and what we try to accomplish with NC’s products in overseas markets. If you find any dead hyperlinks or any other errors or general mayhem, or have a constructive comment to help us make this a better publication, please let me know.

Tony Gunter

tony.gunter@ncarg.gov

From the Crew

Got to be NC Exports

Peter Thornton – Assistant Director of Marketing

International Marketing’s first and foremost message is that our agribusinesses are blessed to be in North Carolina. The network of resources available to NC Agribusinesses is the most extensive you can find in the US, probably the world. Resources include international staff, market research, training, financial support, certification resources and general exporting support. We cover those subjects in detail at our website, www.ncagexports.com . Companies that export or are just curious about exports can find an extensive network of free support with just the click of a mouse or at 919-733-7912.

Peter Thornton

Phone: 919-733-7912 Ext. 248

E- mail: peter.thornton@ncagr.gov

Hasta la Salsa Siempre

Nathan Holleman – International Trade Specialist

NC Sweet Potatoes to be exhibited at the Internorga Trade Exhibition in Hamburg, March 13-18, 2009. NCDA and the North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission will jointly promote NC sweet potatoes at Internorga, the premier culinary and food service trade show held in Germany. Visitors from across Europe will be able to sample sweet potato dishes prepared on site at the show in the Commission/NCDA booth. Nathan Holleman of NCDA and Sue Langdon of the Commission will attend, in addition to at least one NC sweet potato company. For more information, contact Nathan Holleman.

Nathan Holleman

Phone: 919-733-7912, ext. 245

E-mail: Nathan.holleman@ncagr.gov

Woods it to ya?

Tony Gunter – Forest Products International Trade Specialist

Lack of consumer spending, and the housing/foreclosure/credit crisis, continues to negatively affect wood product producers of all types including exporters. Available inventories continue to build even as production levels continue to drop. This trend may be flattening out some of late. Often, this sector is one of the first to show growth after a turn around in the housing market. NCDA&CS, North Carolina Department of Commerce, and the Appalachian Regional Commission organized a pavilion for North Carolina hardwood producers to exhibit and sell their goods in a woodand furniture industry trade show in Guangzhou China at the end of March. The NC companies participating were able to meet new customers and generate leads that resulted in $500,000.00 USD in on the spot sales. Twelve month sales from this event were predicted to be $14 million USD by the participating companies. The Chinese market is second only to Canada in receiving U.S. wood product exports. They are expected to surpass Canada during the next economic growth period.

Tony Gunter

Phone: 919-733-7912 Ext. 244

E-mail: tony.gunter@ncagr.gov



North Carolina’s Export Stats

March 2009 NC Wood Exports.PDF

March 2009 NC AG Exports.PDF

Note: This information is reflective of export trends but does not reflect an accurate accounting of all of North Carolina’s agricultural export dollars. For example, much of the state’s wood products are shipped out through the ports of Charleston and Norfolk. Those exports tend to not be reported accurately in the state’s trade figures. This is true of other products as well.

Common Currencies Valued against the Dollar

The trend is down for the U.S. dollar against many major foreign currencies. This development is not generally good for consumers as this makes manufactured imported goods more expensive to purchase. For U.S. exporters this tends to generally be good news becasue a dropping dollar makes U.S. goods less expensive to overseas buyers, making our exports more competitive when judged against comparable foreign goods. It will take time to see what the new long term trend will be. Please see the hypermink below for more information and curent details.

Dollar weakness has legs, thanks to Fed
US gold rises as weaker dollar stirs fund buying



Currency Unit Units per USD USD per Unit

BRL 2.2104769833 0.4523910484

CAD 1.2276790676 0.8145451254

CNY 6.8273904555 0.1464688458

EUR 0.7649323230 1.3073051954

XAU 0.0011051698 904.8383441734

INR 49.9350704844 0.0200260056

JPY 97.9433735141 0.0102099812

MXN 13.2582430890 0.0754247749

GBP 0.6835005252 1.4630566665

VND 17,780.00 0.0000562430

Info valid on April 23rd, 2009

USD = U.S.A. Dollar, BRL = Brazilian Real, CAD = Canadian Dollar, CNY = Chinese Yuan Renminbi (RMB), EUR = Euro, XAU = Gold Ounces, INR = India Rupees, JPY = Japanese Yen, MXN = Mexican Peso, GBP = Great Britain Pound , VND = Vietnamese Dong

For more up to date international currency values: http://www.xe.com/ict/

International Trade Related News

This column will address some of the current events taking place on the international trade and business front. We will provide many links to timely articles relating to trade, business, currency, shipping, phytosanitary, and other issues that are important to North Carolina’s exports. We will also provide information about how some of these issues may affect or present new opportunities to the state’s agricultural exporters. For more NC international news please visit: http://ncagexports.blogspot.com/



Dubai and Gulf Food – Still Buying – NCDA International Blog

http://ncagexports.blogspot.com/2009/03/dubai-and-gulf-food-still-buying.html

Farm Pak NC Exporter of the Year – NCDA International Blog

http://ncagexports.blogspot.com/2009/02/farm-pak-exporter-of-year.html

NC Ports Announce Service to Central America – NCDA International Blog

http://ncagexports.blogspot.com/2009/02/nc-ports-announce-service-to-central.html

‘Buy American’ - Sparks fly - CNN

http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/29/news/economy/buy_american/index.htm

Commodity Price Dive Hits Latin Economies - WSJ

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123430877724170335.html



USDA “GAIN Reports” of Interest

Philippines Annual Report

http://www.fas.usda.gov/scripts/gd.asp?ID=146327214

European Union -27 - Fruit & Vegetables: EU Marketing Standards

http://www.fas.usda.gov/scripts/gd.asp?ID=146327220

Japan - Japan Announces Fourth Peanut Product Recall

http://www.fas.usda.gov/scripts/gd.asp?ID=146327217

Russian Federation - Export Tariffs for Certain Types of Wood

http://www.fas.usda.gov/scripts/gd.asp?ID=146327131

How to register as a soybean exporter to China

FYI, according to GMO regulation here in China, the US soybean exporter should obtain a Safety Certificate from MoA by submitting the following documents:

1) A registration form (it can be downloaded from MoA's website, but note it is all in Chinese. Use the link http://www.agri.gov.cn/xzsp_web/bszx/bgxz.htm to download the forms. The form is the third item from the top under 'Science & Education Department', that is for a) foreign exporter (not a seed developer) and b) for the purpose of 'processing' not 'research, test and production'.
2) A copy of Safety Certificate issued by MoA to Monsanto (RR/RR2Y) or Bayer (LL) (RR2Y and LL will only be available in MY09/10, please visit their websites for detailed information)
3) A letter to MoA detailing all the necessary safety precaution measures in delivering the beans to Chinese customers to avoid the escape of GMO beans to Chinese environment (no standardized wordings are available, but the exporter should promise to do something to prevent such escape during loading, transportation, discharging, etc. )

It would be better if the exporter can find an importer to apply for the registration and safety certificate in China.

Export University - A World Trade Day Event!

A Seminar to Provide Your Company the Tools to Compete in the Global Marketplace

Date?
Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Where?
State Fair Grounds, Raleigh. The address of the fairground is 1025 Blue Ridge Road, Raleigh, NC 27607. The Scott Building is right next to Gate 11 on Blue Ridge Road (very convenient to the highway)

What Will Be Taught?
Topics to be covered include: Export Sales Techniques, Global Risk Assessment, International Methods of Payment, Letters of Credit, Incoterms, Harmonized Tariff Codes, Role of the International Freight Forwarder, Developing an International Marketing Plan, and free on-line resources. Participants will be introduced to the support network of service providers, i.e., government agencies (USDOC, SBA, Ex-Im Bank, etc.), international freight forwarders, international bankers, etc. All training materials will be provided.

Registration Fee includes a copy of the newly released and updated Basic Guide to Exporting.
** This seminar will also give participants access to key public and private export service providers

Who Should Attend?
- Companies that are not presently exporting and need the tools to answer the question, "Should my company export?"
- Companies that are new to exporting and need the tools to begin and avoid costly mistakes.
- Companies that are currently exporting but need the tools to expand overseas markets and sales.

Companies are encouraged to send employees who are (or may become) responsible for letters of credit, international documentation, international sales, and international marketing.

Cost?
$65 per registrant

Agenda
8:00 Registration
8:30 Welcome and Introductions
8:45 Export Sales Techniques, Jim Joyce
10:15 How to Get Paid - Dan Holt, Small Business Administration
11:15 Export Pricing - Kathy Edwards, Global Business Solutions
12:00 Lunch with VIP keynote NC Commissioner for Agriculture Steve Troxler
1:30 Export Pricing (continued) and Export Credit Insurance, Kathy Edwards, Global Business Solutions
2:30 Export Logistics, Ernie Beauregard, Reefco
3:30 Export Marketing Resources, NCAg, NCDOC and USDOC
4:30 End

To Register on-line, go to https://emenuapps.ita.doc.gov/ePublic/newWebinarRegistration.jsp?SmartCode=9Q7O

For more information, contact NCDA International Marketing at 919-733-7912.