IMMEDIATE RELEASE             July 31, 2003

Duluth, Minn., U.S.A.—The Port of Duluth-Superior’s first Food for Peace shipment in 12 years is scheduled to be loaded Monday (August 4) at the Clure Public Marine Terminal, the Duluth Seaway Port Authority reported today.

Nearly 1,400 metric tons of bagged peas, bound for West Africa under Title II of the federal Public Law 480 Food for Peace program will be shipped aboard the bulk carrier Cashin, due to arrive in Duluth at approximately 7 p.m. on Sunday (August 3). Terminal operator Lake Superior Warehousing Co., Inc., will load the cargo, which arrived in Port via rail from Idaho in mid-July.

“ This may seem like a small amount of Food for Peace, but the shipment is a hopeful sign that the Great Lakes system will soon increase its share of processed goods being exported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture under the PL 480 Title II Program,” said Ron Johnson, Port Authority trade development director.

PL 480 is a federal program sending food aid to developing countries. Title II is mainly processed and bagged products for humanitarian aid.

The Great Lakes had been an efficient supplier of Title II products with its proximity to agricultural producers and the St. Lawrence Seaway system for small ships compatible with ports in many developing countries. The trade was historically worth about $100 million a year to farmers, workers and businessmen in the region. PL 480 cargoes generated an estimated $250,000 in terms of business activity for each port visited.

But in 1985 the cargo preference law pertaining to PL 480 cargo was amended to increase the U.S. flag requirement on such cargos from 50 to 75 percent. This law, which went into effect in 1986, killed the Lakes PL 480 program because cargo awards left for all-flag competition under the remaining 25 percent were too small to induce ships into the Seaway System.

U.S. vessels didn’t need to make special trips to Great Lakes ports because under the cargo preference system USDA directs the cargo to them. The Great Lakes tried but were unable to get regular U.S. flag ocean carrier service.

The Great Lakes did receive about 240,000 tons of PL 480 per year for four years under a Great Lakes Set-Aside arrangement, but the last PL 480 cargo to move through the Port of Duluth-Superior was in 1991.

“ Now Great Lakes port authorities and stevedores are working together to approach foreign-flag ship operators to resume the bidding process. We’re hoping to soon see a return of non U.S.-flag carriage for portions of the USDA allotments,” said Johnson.

“Although the parcel via Duluth was considered a trial shipment because of its size, it is hoped that it will renew interest in carriers moving PL 480 cargo via the Great Lakes,” he said.

The Hong Kong-flagged Cashin, a 607-foot bulk carrier operated by Canfornav, Montreal, was built in 1984 at the Naikai Shipbuilding Co., Setoda, Japan. Local agent for the vessel is Duluth’s Guthrie-Hubner, Inc.

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Contact: Ron Johnson, Trade Development Director, phone 218-727-8525

CONTACT: Lisa Marciniak, Port Promotion Manager, phone 218-727-8525

More Press Releases, 2003