IN THIS ISSUE:

• Chief USTR Ag Negotiator Ambassador Johnson to Provide Keynote Address at Commodity Classic
• NCGA, Grains Council Focus on Trade Issues at Mexico Meeting
• NCGA Research and Business Development Rolls Out Corn Products Guide;
• Online database Part of New Technology & Commercial Development Center
• NCGA Forecasts Long Road Ahead for Modalities Agreement
• Congress Intervenes in Warehouse Act Implementation
• NCGA Names Bill Fleming to Washington, D.C. Staff

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REMINDER: There are only 6 more days before the 2003 Commodity Classic! Visit www.commodityclassic.com <http://www.ncga.com> to register!
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NOTICE: Due to Commodity Classic, there will be no Corn Commentary Feb. 28.
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Chief USTR Ag Negotiator Ambassador Johnson to Provide Keynote Address at Commodity Classic

Chief Agriculture Negotiator for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative Allen Johnson will be the keynote speaker at the Commodity Classic General Session Friday, Feb. 28, in Charlotte, N.C. Commodity Classic offers a wide variety of educational seminars and learning sessions that provide producers with the latest industry information on topics such as trade, biotechnology, marketing, renewable fuels and the future of agriculture. A complete listing of the trade show exhibitors and educational seminars, as well as other event details, can be found on the Commodity Classic web site, www.commodityclassic.com <http://www.commodityclassic.com>. For more information, call 636-928-3700.

NCGA, Grains Council Focus on Trade Issues at Mexico Meeting

The high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) situation with Mexico and trade with Cuba were two of the top issues focused upon by NCGA at the U.S. Grains Council's (USGC) annual membership meeting held in Guadalajara, Mexico, last week. The meeting also provided corn growers the opportunity to become more informed about trade issues. Representing NCGA at the meeting were CEO Rick Tolman; Chairman Tim Hume; President Fred Yoder; President-Elect Dee Vaughan; Biotech Working Group Chairman Leon Corzine; and Director of Public Policy Hayden Milberg. The HFCS situation between the United States and Mexico continues to garner attention and Tolman said several speakers at the event acknowledged the issue during their presentations.

The tax on HFCS, which in Mexico is largely made with U.S.-grown corn, was imposed Jan.1, 2002, as an attempt to aid Mexico's debt-ridden sugar industry and increase the government's tax collection revenues.

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NCGA RFS RALLY

NCGA has scheduled an RFS rally, March 18-19 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Topics to be addressed during the RFS Rally include:

• a presentation on the importance of an ethanol coalition provided by Ed Murphy of the American Petroleum Institute (API);
• a coalition panel made up of groups such as API, American Farm Bureau and the Renewable Fuels Association;
• and a legislative history of the RFS provided by NCGA Vice President of Public Policy, Jon Doggett.
• For more details on the rally, visit the NCGA web site at <http://www.ncga.com/ethanol/rally/index.htm>.

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NCGA Research and Business Development Rolls Out Corn Products Guide; Online Database Part of New Technology & Commercial Development Center

The days of searching long and hard for products made from corn are coming to an end. The NCGA Research and Business Development Action Team Thursday announced it is rolling out a comprehensive database of products made from corn. Looking for building materials made from corn? Or maybe it's corn-based adhesives and binders you're after. With the click of a mouse, nearly 600 non-food and non-feed products made from corn can be accessed through the Corn-Based Products Guide. The guide will go live at www.ncga.com on Feb. 27 at the Commodity Classic, the joint trade show and convention of NCGA and the American Soybean Association, in Charlotte, N.C., and is part of a larger initiative by the NCGA Research and Business Development Action Team of providing new markets for corn and corn-derived products. That initiative includes the Technology and Commercial Development Center (TCDC), an online resource to growers containing tools such as the Corn-Based Products Guide. The guide is a resource for consumers and companies interested in purchasing or producing corn-based consumer and industrial goods. The user-friendly database can be searched by product application, supplier or general category. Some examples of products found in the guide include housewares such as pillows and comforters; food service items such as plates and cups; kitty litter; cleaning products; industrial solvents; de-icers; industrial starches, sweeteners, and more.

NCGA Forecasts Long Road Ahead for Modalities Agreement

Representatives of NCGA this week voiced support for U.S. negotiators during World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations on a framework for ongoing multilateral farm trade talks, or modalities. NCGA's statement came on the heels of Stuart Harbinson's, chair of the WTO negotiating group on agriculture, Feb. 12 release of the first draft text on modalities. The ongoing negotiations are important to growers because they will likely define international and domestic agricultural policy for the next five to 10 years. Current and future farm bills will be impacted as the United States reduces domestic support levels towards other forms of non-trade distorting assistance. The text reduces trade-distorting domestic support by 60 percent over five years and eliminates export subsidies over a nine-year period. U.S. leaders expressed concerns with the 26-page draft modalities text because it does not adopt a harmonization regime advocated by the United States. Instead, it combines U.S. and European positions otherwise known as "banding" whereby WTO members would use tariffs by an agreed upon average but at the same time make bigger cuts on the higher tariff "bands." In a positive development for the United States and the Cairns Group, a 17-member group of agriculture exporting nations, the text does not include non-trade agriculture-related concerns, such as environmental protection, rural development, and food safety advocated by the European Union, Japan and Switzerland. The draft agriculture text underlies the deep divisions among WTO members. Harbinson hopes the text can bridge these gaps and act as an initial attempt to identify possible means to a final agreement.

WTO modalities negotiations were held in Tokyo this week and will reconvene in Geneva Feb.24-28, where the draft will be revised.

Congress Intervenes in Warehouse Act Implementation

Delaying for six months any action in the federal grain warehouse program, Congress adopted last week an amendment prohibiting the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) from exerting funding power for much of the program's licensing. Leaders of the NCGA believe the legislation will be an added benefit to producers and other interested parties. Under the legislation, which passed as part of the FY '03 omnibus spending bill, USDA is prohibited from spending any funds to amend the terms of the federal grain warehouse licensing agreement. Further, the agency is not allowed to issue a new federal grain warehouse license to facilities that hold a state license as of the date the bill is signed into law. The legislation does not preclude USDA from issuing a federal license to new or existing warehouse operations that currently are not licensed.

However, new licenses issued to such warehouses would be based upon the licensing agreement in effect prior to the federal warehouse program changes announced earlier this month by USDA. The legislation also continues to allow existing federal warehouses to amend their existing licenses to add or remove storage capacity.

In a Feb. 5 decision, USDA said it would cover losses to farmers who store grain in or sell grain to federally licensed elevators when the elevator becomes insolvent. USDA planned on funding the proposal by selling grain from bankrupt elevators. USDA officials also said the agency could turn to a fund of assessments raised from the grain warehouse industry and insurance policies paid for by federal elevators.

NCGA Names Bill Fleming to Washington, D.C. Staff

NCGA is increasing its staff in Washington, D.C., as Bill Fleming joined the organization Friday as legislative assistant. Fleming will provide daily assistance to NCGA Vice President of Public Policy Jon Doggett and will oversee staff updates of the NCGA's Leadership Resource Center and the Legislative Action Center. In addition, he will work on a number of special projects in the Washington office.

Fleming has extensive experience as an administrative assistant, writer and researcher. He has a master of arts degree in public communications from American University, Washington, D.C., and earned his bachelor of arts in political science from Benedictine University, Lisle, Ill.

NCGA THIS WEEK

• Feb. 24-25 NCGA Production and Stewardship Action Team will meet in Wilmington, N.C.
• Feb. 26-March 2 NCGA staff will be in Charlotte, N.C., attending the 2003 Commodity Classic

2003 National Corn Growers Association

ST. LOUIS OFFICE

WASHINGTON D.C. OFFICE