Adieu Roquefort?

Adieu, Adieu, to the cheese of the ewes?

Pliny the Elder mentionned its rich aroma in A.D.79. It was the favorite cheese of Charlemagne. Made exclusively from the milk of the red Lacaune ewes that graze on the huge plateau of Rouergue, Causses in the Aveyron. A genuine Roquefort has a red sheep on the label.

If you're a fan of Roquefort, better stock up now, as some importers are doing. Along with a lot of other items that might be crossed off your shopping list because of the economic situation, a number of imported items are going to be really priced out of the market despite the Dollar's rise against the Euro.

Congressman James Oberstar's plea to spare France's Roquefort cheese from a crippling 300-percent import duty, has yet to be answered by President Barack Obama, as of Monday.  Democratic Representative James Oberstar wrote Obama on February 2, urging him to take steps against "this mean-spirited and unproductive punitive duty".

It all goes back to 1998 when the World Trade Organization ruled that the European Union's ban on U.S. hormone treated beef was not based on science and was inconsistent with WTO rules. With the WTO's authorization, in 1999 the U.S. imposed additional duties on a list of E.U. products with a total trade value of $116.8 million.

On Jan. 15, the USTR published its revised trade action, listing 65 classes of E.U. products targeted with 100 percent duty: oats, chocolate bars, lingonbery and raspberry jams, bone-in hams and shoulders, and Italian mineral waters. The duty on Roquefort, on the original list, has been increased to 300 percent from 100 percent.

Items removed from the list include mustard, preserved tomatoes and rusks. Truffles and goose liver are among the products staying on the list with 100 percent duties.

Taylor Griffin, co-owner of The Rogers Collection, said "people are madly trying to ship to get product in the door" before the March 23 date. Still, Griffin is hopeful the Obama administration will put the kibosh on the measure. "Once the White House staff gets to this issue, it might not happen," he said.

If the measure goes through, it will kill the market for the bone-in Iberico ham which The Rogers Collection imports through its Fermin USA division.

"Forget it, we can't sell $400 pound meat," Griffin said.

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