NCGA
Involved in Efforts to Resolve U.S.-Mexican Sweetener Dispute (11-03-03)
Efforts to resolve
the long-standing sweetener trade dispute with Mexico continue on
several fronts, notes the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA).
Of note are letters sent last week to U.S. Trade Representative Robert
Zoellick and Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez and a statement
issued by a Combined Sweetener Task Force.
The dispute began
in January 2002 when Mexico imposed a 20 percent tax on all soft drinks
containing high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), which has shut down U.S.
exports for nearly two years.
In an Oct. 29
letter,House Agriculture Chairman Robert Goodlatte urged Zoellick
to find a “commercially viable solution that re-opens the Mexican
market to U.S.HFCS exports immediately.”
Additionally Goodlatte
wrote, “ Mexico’s lack of a solution or willingness to
quickly address this matter should be met with a strong counter response
from our government, including retaliation if necessary.”
Then on Oct. 30,
Sen. Richard Lugar, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,
sent a letter to Derbez claiming, “It is unacceptable that this
issue has deteriorated to the point wherein U.S.corn farmers and refiners,
including those in my home state of Indiana, have lost access to their
top export market, Mexico, for nearly two years.”
The Combined Sweetener
Task Force, made up of representatives from the Mexican and U.S. private
sector, corn and sugar growers and processors, issued a statement
Oct. 31 seeking resolution to the dispute. “The task force has
reached an agreement on principles for settling the sweetener dispute
between Mexico and the U.S. We are confident that these principles
can lead to resumption and NAFTA trade in sugar and corn sweetener
in the near future,” the statement said. NCGA Chairman Fred
Yoder is representing NCGA as a member of the Task Force.
The task force
has held a series of meeting in Mexico City, recently and has authority
only to make recommendations. The technical negotiations and legal
settlement are government-to-government functions.
To read the Goodlatte
letter click here.
To read the Lugar letter click here.
To read the Combined Sweetener Task Force statement click here.
Last reviewed
November 3, 2003