Tracking U.S. Treasury Votes
U.S. law prohibits the use of U.S. funds to support surplus production of commodities which harms U.S. producers (22 USC 262h). However, overseas shrimp aquaculture projects are regularly funded to the detriment of domestic shrimpers through Multilateral Development Institutions (MDIs), like the World Bank, using U.S. taxpayers’ money. The Southern Shrimp Alliance makes publicly available a database of all U.S. Treasury votes on multilateral development projects. This database helps users verify compliance with U.S. law and more readily identify shifting trends in shrimp financing to new countries, regions, or methods.
About the database
Data source: https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/international/multilateral-development-banks/loan-review-votes
Format: Sortable and searchable Excel file
Updated: May 2024
What is included in the data?
- Date of vote
- Multilateral Development Institution (MDI)
- Country where project is funded
- Project title
- Type of assistance
- Project cost
- U.S. position
- Treasury-developed vote code supporting U.S. position
- Reason for U.S. position
- Environmental impact category
To identify shrimp-export support projects, search for:
- Countries of special interest (i.e. Ecaudor and India)
- Red flag details (shrimp, aquaculture mentioned–watch for “bundling” of projects)