2006 Minnesota Statutes

116J.966 COMMISSIONER'S TRADE PROMOTION DUTIES.
    Subdivision 1. Generally. (a) The commissioner shall promote, develop, and facilitate trade
and foreign investment in Minnesota. In furtherance of these goals, and in addition to the powers
granted by section 116J.035, the commissioner may:
(1) locate, develop, and promote international markets for Minnesota products and services;
(2) arrange and lead trade missions to countries with promising international markets for
Minnesota goods, technology, services, and agricultural products;
(3) promote Minnesota products and services at domestic and international trade shows;
(4) organize, promote, and present domestic and international trade shows featuring
Minnesota products and services;
(5) host trade delegations and assist foreign traders in contacting appropriate Minnesota
businesses and investments;
(6) develop contacts with Minnesota businesses and gather and provide information to assist
them in locating and communicating with international trading or joint venture counterparts;
(7) provide information, education, and counseling services to Minnesota businesses
regarding the economic, commercial, legal, and cultural contexts of international trade;
(8) provide Minnesota businesses with international trade leads and information about
the availability and sources of services relating to international trade, such as export financing,
licensing, freight forwarding, international advertising, translation, and custom brokering;
(9) locate, attract, and promote foreign direct investment and business development in
Minnesota to enhance employment opportunities in Minnesota;
(10) provide foreign businesses and investors desiring to locate facilities in Minnesota
information regarding sources of governmental, legal, real estate, financial, and business services;
(11) enter into contracts or other agreements with private persons and public entities,
including agreements to establish and maintain offices and other types of representation in foreign
countries, to carry out the purposes of promoting international trade and attracting investment from
foreign countries to Minnesota and to carry out this section, without regard to section 16C.06; and
(12) market trade-related materials to businesses and organizations, and the proceeds of
which must be placed in a special revolving account and are appropriated to the commissioner to
prepare and distribute trade-related materials.
(b) The programs and activities of the commissioner of employment and economic
development and the Minnesota Trade Division may not duplicate programs and activities of the
commissioner of agriculture.
(c) The commissioner shall notify the chairs of the senate Finance and house Ways and
Means Committees of each agreement under this subdivision to establish and maintain an office
or other type of representation in a foreign country.
    Subd. 2. Agricultural promotion. The commissioner of agriculture and the commissioner of
employment and economic development shall cooperate with each other to promote the beneficial
agricultural interests of the state. The commissioner of agriculture has primary responsibility for
promoting state agricultural interests to international markets. The commissioner of agriculture is
also responsible for the promotion of national trade programs related to international marketing.
The commissioner of agriculture has primary responsibility for promoting the agriculture interests
of producers, promoting state agricultural markets, and promoting agricultural interests of the
state in cooperative production and marketing efforts with other states and the United States
Department of Agriculture. The commissioner of agriculture is also responsible for promoting the
national and international marketing of state agricultural products.
History: 1987 c 312 art 1 s 20; 1988 c 686 art 1 s 65; 1993 c 163 art 1 s 20; 1994 c 632 art
4 s 45; 1998 c 386 art 2 s 37; 2000 c 260 s 17; 2003 c 128 art 13 s 23; 1Sp2003 c 4 s 1; 2004 c
206 s 22; 2004 c 228 art 1 s 27; 2004 c 284 art 2 s 12