U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa) this week introduced legislation that would direct the U.S. Department of Agriculture to negotiate contracts to deliver needs assessments, training, and other technical assistance to enhance infrastructure construction—including cold chain storage—in new and developing foreign markets.
The Fortifying Refrigeration Infrastructure and Developing Global Exports (FRIDGE) Act would add a section promoting infrastructure in the Foreign Market Development (FMD) program, and to fund this paragraph, funds will be authorized at $1 million annually from FY24-28.
“Opening new export markets for our farmers helps increase demand for Iowa agricultural commodities and puts more money in the pockets of our producers,” Feenstra explained in a news release. “However, goods like Iowa-raised beef, pork, turkeys, chickens, and other perishable products face barriers to foreign markets because of a significant lack of cold-chain storage and other refrigeration infrastructure.
“I introduced the FRIDGE Act to make improvements at our ports and construct needed refrigeration infrastructure so that Iowa farmers can ship their high-quality goods across the globe without worrying about spoilage.”
According to the U.S. International Trade Administration, cold chain systems are crucial to the growth of global trade in perishable products and to the worldwide availability of food. Each year, billions of tons of perishable food products and millions of dollars’ worth of U.S. exports are lost due to poor cold chain systems in developing markets. Increased investments in cold chain capacity will also help to decrease the over 1 billion metric tons of global food waste created every year. Many of these losses result from a lack of proper facilities, improper food safety handling procedures, and insufficient training for those personnel working in the cold chain.
“The Global Cold Chain Alliance strongly supports the FRIDGE Act and thanks Reps. Feenstra, Tracey Mann, Jim Costa, and Salud Carbajal; and Sens. Jim Banks and John Fetterman for their leadership in introducing this important legislation,” said Sara Stickler, GCCA president and CEO. “Given the current uncertainties with tariffs and trade agreements, developing new markets for U.S. products will be extremely important. One of the biggest barriers to increasing trade in emerging markets is the lack of cold chain capacity.
“The FRIDGE Act would strengthen the ability of these markets to safely and efficiently receive high-quality U.S. perishable commodities, creating new trade opportunities, improving food security and nutrition, and reducing food loss and waste.”
In 2021, the top three markets for American pork—China, Japan, and Mexico—accounted for 63% of U.S. exports. In that same year, the top three markets for beef—Japan, South Korea, and China—accounted for 60% of U.S. exports. These facts underscore the need to maintain these trading partners but also establish new markets to build a resilient supply chain for producers.
GCCA was a strong proponent of the original 2023 bipartisan introduction of the FRIDGE Act in the House and the Senate, which was subsequently included in both the House and Senate versions of the Farm Bill in 2024. “GCCA appreciates the continued bipartisan commitment to strengthening the cold chain and recognizing its critical role in supply chain resilience and food security,” the association stated in a release.
