Today, the Southern Shrimp Alliance is publishing an updated version of our U.S. Treasury Votes database which tracks the U.S.’s official position on all development projects voted on at multilateral development institutions (MDIs) to which the U.S. is a dues-paying member. This update includes Treasury votes from August and September 2024. Although none of the projects included in the update appear to involve shrimp aquaculture, the Treasury Department referenced a vote code (“18”) through which Congress required opposition to projects that encouraged additional production of particular agricultural commodity products for the first time in the history of the agency’s reporting.
According to the Treasury Department’s “Key to Voting Record of the U.S. Executive Directors to the International Financial Institutions,” code “18” applies to “Palm oil, sugar, and citrus, as governed by P.L. 95-118, Sec. 901(a).” This is a reference to the requirements of 22 U.S.C. § 262g, which instructs that “The United States representatives to the institutions named in this section shall oppose any loan or other financial assistance for establishing or expanding production for export of palm oil, sugar, or citrus crops if such loan or assistance will cause injury to United States producers of the same, similar, or competing agricultural commodity.”
This statutory requirement is similar to 22 U.S.C. § 262h, requiring U.S. representatives at MDIs to “use the voice and vote of the United States to oppose any assistance” for the production of any commodity for export that is in surplus in global markets and for which its export to the United States would cause substantial injury to American producers. The “Surplus Commodities Rule” has two voting code designations (2 and 57) and prior to June of 2024, neither one had ever been referenced in relation to any vote made by the United States with respect to an MDI project. However, as the Southern Shrimp Alliance has previously noted, on June 27th, the U.S. Directors voted to oppose funding for the Gunung Steel Project in Indonesia and referenced voting code “2.” This was the first time in the twenty years of published voting decisions that Treasury has explicitly recognized that the Surplus Commodities Rule (code 2 in the Voting Code column) necessitated consideration as part of the U.S. government’s voting position.
Similarly, the most recent update indicates that, for the first time, Treasury explicitly referenced its obligations under 22 U.S.C. § 262g (voting code “18”). Specifically, on September 12, 2024, the U.S. Executive Directors cast a vote regarding the Olam Palm Gabon project. In keeping with the project’s intent to increase the export of palm oil, the Treasury Department voting database referenced voting code “18.” However, unlike the Gunung Steel Project – which was opposed by the United States – the Olam Palm Gabon was supported by the U.S. Executive Directors. It is possible that the decision to support the project was based on a determination that no “United States producers of the same, similar, or competing agricultural commodity” to palm oil would be injured by the project, but no further explanation regarding the reasons for the support of this $150 million project of the International Finance Corporation were given.
As the Southern Shrimp Alliance has previously explained, the Surplus Commodities Rule should have resulted in U.S. representatives expressing opposition to MDI-backed projects designed to increase shrimp production. Nevertheless, as with the explicit requirement to oppose MDI projects related to particular commodities (palm oil, sugar, and citrus products) pursuant to 22 U.S.C. § 262g, there has been no prior indication that this obligation is considered in the voting position adopted by the U.S. Executive Directors. Through the publication and maintenance of the U.S. Treasury Votes database, the Southern Shrimp Alliance seeks to address the arbitrary nature of the federal government’s support for the use of U.S. taxpayer funds on projects that cause significant harm to American industries. As the shrimp industry has experienced firsthand, the Treasury Department’s failure to account for the consequences of these development projects has severely harmed American families and small businesses that depend upon the federal government to represent their interests before international, multilateral institutions.
At the same time, the Southern Shrimp Alliance continues to advocate for legislative changes that would prevent further use of U.S. taxpayer funds to support MDI projects that encourage shrimp production and/or export. The re-introduction of the Save Our Shrimpers Act, as H.R. 2071 (https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/2071) by Representative Troy Nehls (R-TX), with eighteen additional co-sponsors (Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA), Rep. Vincente Gonzalez (D-TX), Rep. Troy Carter (D-LA), Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), Rep. Randy Weber (R-TX), Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Rep. Julia Letlow (R-LA), Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), Rep. Gregory Murphy (R-NC), Rep. John Rutherford (R-FL), Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), Rep. Barry Moore (R-AL), Rep. Brian Babin (R-TX), Rep. Mike Ezell (R-MS), Rep. Michael Cloud (R-TX), Rep. Russell Fry (R-SC), Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA), and Rep. Haridopolis (R-FL)), was an important step towards countering the oversupply of farmed shrimp in the global market.
Access the updated U.S. Treasury Votes database current through September 2024 here: https://shrimpalliance.com/issues/fighting-for-fair-trade/mdi-funding-of-shrimp-aquaculture/
Review the U.S. Treasury Department’s “Key to Voting Record of the U.S. Executive Directors to the International Financial Institutions” here: https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/206/Voting-records.pdf
Edited 3/28/25 to include an additional co-sponsor.