Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins concluded her trade mission to Rome, Italy last week in an effort to improve agricultural market access and expand the reach of the American agricultural industry across the European Union.

During her visit, Secretary Rollins held a bilateral meeting with her Italian counterpart, Minister of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty, and Forests Francesco Lollobrigida and discussed the opportunities that President Trump’s America First agricultural trade agenda provides for U.S.-Italy relations.

Secretary Rollins also attended a dinner hosted by Minister Lollobrigida and met with more than 50 key Italian officials, leading agri-food industry stakeholders, and prominent representatives from farmers’ associations including meat, wine, dairy, and feed to discuss current successes and future opportunities for U.S.-Italy agricultural trade.

In addition to meeting with members of the Italian government and agricultural industry, Secretary Rollins met with key agricultural leaders at the United Nations. During her meeting with Director General of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization Qu Dongyu, Secretary Rollins reiterated the FAO’s Codex Alimentarius and International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) must be a priority among member nations and remain science, data, and evidence driven in order to facilitate agricultural trade. She also met with Executive Director of the World Food Programme Cindy McCain to discuss the importance of America First priorities and strategize on the utilization of more U.S. grown agricultural commodities in the World Food Programme. In both meetings, the Secretary reiterated that programs that U.S. taxpayers help fund – including at the United Nations – should be in America’s national interest and should purchase their fair share of American commodities.