NCGA, USGC Dispel Biotech Myths During Joint Mission to EU, Russia (6-28-04)
During the first week of a joint biotech mission to the European Union (EU)
and Russia, leaders from the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) and
U.S. Grains Council (USGC) set the record straight on the use of biotechnology
in the U.S. agriculture sector.
“We’ve been able to dispel a lot of the myths that have been
propagated over here for years about how U.S. farmers are forced to use biotechnology
and, in turn, how we’re trying to force it on the world,” said
NCGA President Dee Vaughan, a grower from Dumas, Texas. Vaughan and others
on the mission visited Italy, Austria and Hungary last week.
The group, which is assessing
attitudes toward biotech products and investigating how the EU’s
new traceability and labeling rules will affect trade, began the second
week of its mission today. This week the delegation, which
also includes NCGA First Vice President Leon Corzine, Biotech Working Group
Chair Helen Inman and CEO Rick Tolman, will visit Poland and Russia.
Attitudes toward biotechnology
are changing in Europe, Vaughan said, as evidenced by the European Commission’s
approval last week of NK603 corn, a Monsanto hybrid, for use in food products.
However, he added, U.S.
producers must continue to foster an open dialogue with European producers
and governments to ensure the benefits of biotechnology are properly understood.
“We’ve been carrying the message that U.S. farmers have a choice
in using biotech tools and that we, of course, respect the rights of other
nations and consumers around the world to choose,” he said. “We
feel like it’s good technology that has benefits for consumers, producers
and the world as a whole.”
To listen to the National Association
of Farm Broadcasters interview with Vaughan and USGC Chairman Terry Wolf,
click the “Listen Now” button.