Bill Text: FL H0009 | 2011 | Regular Session | Introduced


Bill Title: Supporting the Marketing of Florida Seafood

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2011-05-02 - Ordered enrolled -HJ 1162 [H0009 Detail]

Download: Florida-2011-H0009-Introduced.html
HM 9

1
House Memorial
2A memorial to the Congress of the United States, urging
3Congress to support the marketing of Florida seafood.
4
5     WHEREAS, Florida seafood products face constantly
6increasing domestic competition from imported seafood products,
7with more than 80 percent of the total seafood consumed in the
8United States currently originating in foreign countries, and
9     WHEREAS, effective domestic marketing of Florida seafood in
10the face of aggressive competition from foreign products
11requires innovative, forceful, and consistent promotion, and
12     WHEREAS, current annual funding for the domestic promotion
13of Florida seafood is insufficient to effectively develop the
14thriving markets that sustainable Florida seafood products
15merit, especially when competing with nationally supported
16promotional programs aimed at United States consumers by rival
17seafood-producing countries, and
18     WHEREAS, duties and tariffs on imported seafood products
19generate approximately $280,000,000 annually for the United
20States Treasury, and
21     WHEREAS, revenue from anti-dumping and countervailing
22duties on imported seafood products collected by the Federal
23Government total hundreds of millions of dollars annually, and
24     WHEREAS, federal revenue derived from the importation of
25competing seafood products is not presently made available for
26the marketing of seafood harvested and produced domestically,
27and
28     WHEREAS, using a portion of the revenue collected on the
29importation of foreign seafood products to promote United States
30seafood to domestic consumers will secure United States
31fisheries and seafood processing jobs, create robust and
32enduring domestic markets, and greatly enhance the nutritional
33value of national diets, and
34     WHEREAS, throughout recent history each spill or leak
35associated with the transportation or production of oil
36negatively affects the seafood industry through the closure of
37commercial and recreational fishing operations, the destruction
38of wildlife and natural habitat, or loss of market share, and
39     WHEREAS, in a recent survey conducted by the University of
40Minnesota, 54 percent of respondents said the Deepwater Horizon
41oil spill has affected their seafood consumption habits
42somewhat, 44 percent said they will not eat seafood from the
43Gulf of Mexico, and 31 percent said they will eat less seafood
44regardless of its origin, and
45     WHEREAS, a new National Seafood Marketing Fund designed to
46promote and develop United States produced seafood would help
47the United States seafood industry now and in the future recoup
48damages related to oil spills that result in decreased market
49demand for seafood, and
50     WHEREAS, a small portion of oil revenues are a logical
51source of funding for a National Seafood Marketing Fund as
52mitigation for real damages incurred by the seafood industry and
53coastal communities, NOW, THEREFORE,
54
55Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
56
57     That the Congress of the United States is requested to
58allocate moneys generated from federal marine and fishery
59product import tariffs for the domestic marketing of Florida
60seafood.
61     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Congress of the United
62States is urged to pass legislation dedicating a significant
63portion of marine and fishery product import tariffs to a
64national seafood marketing fund to promote domestic seafood
65products that face competition from foreign imports.
66     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Florida Congressional
67Delegation is urged to work with representatives of other
68seafood-producing states to secure adequate funding for
69effective and sustained domestic marketing of United States
70seafood.
71     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
72dispatched to the President of the United States, to the
73President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
74United States House of Representatives, and to each member of
75the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.


CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
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