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Corn
Growers Support The Biotechnology and Agricultural Trade Program(12-19-01)
In
a letter sent Monday to the United States Senate, the AgBiotech
Planning Committee, of which the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA)
is a member, urged members' strong support for Section 333 of the Senate
farm bill, the Agriculture, Conservation and Rural Enhancement Act of
2001.
"We are beginning
to see an intertwining of trade and biotechnology. Section 333 of the
Senate farm bill, S. 1731, authorizes a valuable and important program
called the Biotechnology and Agricultural Trade Program," said
Tim Hume, a Walsh, Colo., corn grower and president of NCGA. "This
program provides a critical tool that will help growers, like myself,
do a better job of producing food that meets the approval of our export
customers. It helps ensure the acceptance and adoption of important
agricultural biotechnologies in export markets."
The new program
creates a mechanistic approach to the distribution of biotechnology
foods, directing the Secretary of Agriculture to gain foreign acceptance
of new varieties through education and outreach - before the product
is released on the market. "It is vitally important that we produce
food that consumers want. We cannot force customers to accept products
they deem as undesirable or unsafe," said Hume. The section also
directs the Secretary to assist exporters of U.S. commodities who are
harmed by unwarranted and arbitrary barriers to trade related to the
sale of biotechnology products.
"Tariffs aren't
the only road blocks that U.S. corn exports face," said Hume. "Over
the past decade, many of our trade partners have set up trade barriers
that impede the access of biotech corn. For example, the traceability
and labeling proposals for genetically modified food and feed imposed
by the European Union could drastically erode important export markets.
The moratorium on approval of new biotech varieties has already reduced
corn exports more than $200 million."
"We hope the
final version of the farm bill retains Section 333, and The Biotechnology
and Agricultural Trade Program," Hume concluded.
Biotechnology offers
great promise for corn growers through improved efficiencies and potential
profits when managed wisely and with regulatory oversight based on sound
science. To learn more about NCGA and biotechnology, click
here.
Last reviewed
December 19, 2001
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