KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 26 — The United States dairy industry expects stronger sales to Malaysia under the Malaysia-US Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART), saying the pact will put American products on the same footing as those from Australia and New Zealand.
The US Dairy Export Council (USDEC) said the agreement will deepen an already sizeable market, with American dairy exports to Malaysia reaching US$118 million (RM489 million) last year to supplement domestic production.
“The ART will allow the US-Malaysia dairy trade relationship to deepen further as it will put US products on par with those from Australia and New Zealand,” USDEC executive vice president for trade policy and global affairs Shawna Morris told CodeBlue in an email.
USDEC is a non-profit organisation representing the global trade interests of US dairy producers, processors, cooperatives, ingredient suppliers, and dairy exporters.
Morris said the pact would expand opportunities for US suppliers as Malaysia recognises US regulatory systems across dairy production and processing.
“All US dairy products are produced under a robust and very extensive food safety system overseen by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), and in-state regulatory authorities,” Morris said. “This system includes oversight both at the farm and at the processing plant levels.”
She added that only facilities in good standing are permitted to export and that milk is routinely tested to prevent disease contamination. “Milk from farms is routinely tested to ensure that any cattle disease outbreak does not negatively impact the food supply.”
Morris said US companies exporting to Malaysia are already halal-certified. “Dairy products exported to Malaysia meet the same high food safety standards in place for foods sold domestically throughout the US. American dairy companies recognise the importance of halal certification and those exporting to Malaysia are already halal-certified.”
The dairy sector’s assessment comes as other American agricultural groups publicly welcome ART. The US Meat Export Federation (USMEF) earlier projected that the pact could unlock US$50 million to US$60 million in annual beef exports to Malaysia – as much as 8 to 10 per cent of the country’s beef import market – after Malaysia agreed to accept USDA inspection directories in place of local plant approvals.
Malaysian authorities have yet to comment on the dairy-related provisions of the agreement. ART requires Malaysia to recognise US sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) systems across meat, poultry and dairy imports, potentially reducing the role of local regulators in approving individual facilities.
A veterinary expert and government lawmaker have warned that Malaysia may lack the surveillance and border-inspection capacity needed to enforce the pact’s shift from nationwide import bans to zone-based disease controls. They say meeting these obligations will require upgrades in monitoring, data-sharing and enforcement systems.
