2 Comments so far

1. FOG_USA on October 4, 2009 6:41 am

   Here is an article from the Seattle Times that might explain things a little better to you:
   Bush’s other war: on Roquefort cheese
   By Edward Cody
   The Washington Post
   The Bush administration’s duty on Roquefort in effect closes the U.S. market to the cheese made from ewe’s milk exclusively in Roquefort-sur-Soulzon, France.
   ROQUEFORT-SUR-SOULZON, France — Roquefort-sur-Soulzon seems an unlikely spot to fight a trade war.
   A village of 600 in a remote part of southern France, Roquefort clings precariously to the side of Combalou Rock, overlooking a deep valley where sheep graze in the shadow of limestone cliffs that were sheared off by a seismic jolt in prehistoric times.
   But the primal shake also carved out aerated underground crevasses that give a unique economic value to this jagged landscape about 65 miles northwest of Montpellier. They make possible a gastronomical wonder that has delighted gourmets for centuries: Roquefort cheese.
   In an era of globalized competition for trade, the smelly delicacy and its hometown have become ground zero for the warriors of export-import in Washington, D.C.
   The United States, it turns out, has declared war on Roquefort cheese.
   In effect, a ban
   In its final days, the Bush administration imposed a 300 percent duty on Roquefort, in effect closing off the U.S. market. Americans, it said, will no longer get to taste the creamy concoction that, in its authentic, most glorious form, comes with an odor of wet sheep and veins of blue mold that go perfectly with rye bread and coarse red wine.
   The measure, announced Jan. 13 by U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab as she headed out the door, was designed as retaliation for a European Union (EU) ban on imports of U.S. beef containing hormones. Tit for tat, and all perfectly legal under World Trade Organization rules, U.S. officials said.
   Besides, they said, Roquefort is only one of dozens of European luxury products that were attacked with high tariffs. The list includes, among other things, French truffles, Irish oatmeal, Italian sparkling water and “fatty livers of ducks and geese,” which apparently is how Washington trade bureaucrats say foie gras.
   The cheese producers and sheep farmers near Roquefort do not see it that way. Only Roquefort got hit with such a high duty that it amounts to a ban, they said. In their view, this unfairly undermines the economy of Roquefort, which depends entirely on cheese, and the well-being of the 4,500 people who herd special ewes on 2,100 farms producing milk for Roquefort in a carefully defined oval grazing area across the Larzac Plain and up and down nearby hills and valleys.
   “This measure is completely out of proportion,” said Robert Glandieres, a sheep farmer who heads the Regional Federation of Ewe Raisers’ Unions. “It’s a little bit of a provocation.”
   Resentment brewed
   If so, it would not be the first provocation in the history of the Roquefort war. The United States first imposed unusual 100 percent tariffs on Roquefort in 1999, when the dispute with the EU over hormoned-up beef first got nasty. In reaction, a local peasant rabble-rouser named José Bové rose up, decrying unnatural foods, industrial agriculture and disrespect for traditional ways. Even before he led a group in tearing up a local McDonald’s, it was clear the United States was his main target.
   Bové was convicted of a crime for his gesture. But many French people agreed with his sentiments, none more so than the people of the Roquefort region. For them, the preservation of culinary tradition is a way of life — and a livelihood.
   President Nicolas Sarkozy has tried to put U.S.-French relations back on a more friendly footing. But Glandieres said residual irritation may have been at work in the U.S. trade representative’s office when the decision was made to triple the tax on Roquefort. He also acknowledged that the French government, with its own beef industry to promote, did nothing to help, having led the charge against U.S. beef in Europe.
   Despite the ill feelings, Roquefort producers went out of their way to preserve a place in the U.S. market, even after the 100 percent tax was imposed. Milk producers and cheesemakers alike took revenue cuts to keep prices down for U.S.-bound exports.
   As a result, by some measures U.S. sales rose slightly. Glandieres said frustration about that among U.S. officials might also have played a role in the new tariff rate.
   “From what we hear, the Americans couldn’t stand to see Roquefort was still on the supermarket shelves in the United States,” he said.
   The proportion of Roquefort exported to the United States remained small, however, amounting last year to only 450 tons of 19,000 produced and 3,700 in total exports. Spain, with purchases of 1,000 tons, was by far the largest foreign customer.
   Hopes for diplomacy
   Glandieres said the only recourse now is diplomacy. In that spirit, Agriculture Minister Michel Barnier recently called the tariff rate “unjustified” but said he hoped to open a new dialogue with the United States. A delegation of local elected officials went to the U.S. Embassy in Paris last week to present their case politely.
   Underlying the hopes for improvement is an impression widely shared by people in France that President Obama’s administration, free of baggage from the dispute over Iraq, will prove more sympathetic to France. But Glandieres noted that Obama has a lot to deal with. “I don’t think Roquefort will be the first thing on his mind,” he said.

2. ajentsm on October 4, 2009 7:03 am

   That’s a shame,really.