Michigan § 447.123 - Foreign trade branch; powers and duties.

The foreign trade branch shall:

Conduct research on foreign laws and regulations affecting sales of agricultural products of this state abroad.

Identify foreign markets for agricultural commodities.

Identify products of this state for promotion abroad.

Design and execute commodity programs for individual country markets.

Conduct programs to encourage greater awareness and participation of the farm community of this state in export sales.

Encourage and assist the expansion of international activities by the various commodity commissions.

Encourage and assist the expansion of international activities by farm organizations.

Coordinate relationships and communications with the foreign agriculture service, national commodity groups, United States bureau of commerce, national trade associations and other national agencies in requests for agriculture trade leads either for Michigan suppliers or in cooperation with suppliers in other states.

Encourage Michigan agricultural industry participation in F.A.S. and bureau of commerce sponsored trade fairs and missions.

Organize, correlate and implement state, industry and commodity groups on foreign visits and trade missions; selecting potential market areas; developing and publishing market surveys for potential penetration by Michigan suppliers.

Conduct foreign market research to determine areas where promotion of Michigan products should be concentrated.

Develop or cause to be developed, multilingual promotional materials for foreign distribution. Develop English versions of foreign promotional presentations for domestic markets and be responsible for appropriate distribution of all trade material developed to aid Michigan shippers and foreign buyers.