The Global Cold Chain Alliance (GCCA) applauds the introduction of the Fortifying Refrigeration Infrastructure and Developing Global Exports (FRIDGE) Act in the House of Representatives today. The FRIDGE Act would add authority to the Trade Title of the Farm Bill to focus on strengthening the global food supply chain for frozen and refrigerated products. As evidenced by recent disruptions, one of the biggest barriers to a strong and resilient global food supply chain is the lack of cold chain capacity in emerging markets.
“The FRIDGE 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 waste due to food loss,” said GCCA Warehouse Chairman Mike McClendon. “GCCA strongly supports the FRIDGE Act and thanks Representatives Feenstra, Mann, Costa and Carbajal for their leadership in introducing this important legislation.”
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.
“GCCA greatly appreciates the vision of the FRIDGE Act sponsors in drafting this legislation,” said Matthew Ott, President and CEO of GCCA. “These efforts will expand export markets and will add to additional cold chain capacity, while reducing food loss and waste globally.”
