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NCGA CEO: EU Trip Was ‘Stunning Success’
June
19, 2001
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
Contact:
David
Uchic, Manager, Washington, D.C., Communications, 202-628-7001
Mimi
Ricketts, Director of Marketing Communications, 636/733-9004, ext.112
ST. LOUIS (June
19, 2001) - Rick Tolman, Executive Vice President and CEO of National
Corn Growers Association (NCGA) is calling the recent joint biotech
mission to the European Union (EU) a “stunning success.”
Representatives
from the NCGA and the U. S. Grains Council (USGC) returned Saturday
after a six-day joint mission in Europe, where they discussed trade
issues and biotechnology with EU officials.
The six-person NCGA/USGC
team visited Brussels, Rotterdam, Geneva and Paris, meeting with corn
co-product importers, European Commission officials, World Trade Organization
(WTO) ambassadors, European news media, consumer groups and leaders
of the French Corn Growers Association, among others.
Rick Tolman said
the trip exceeded all expectations. “The representatives we met
with had never met with U.S. (farmers) before and they responded well
to our message since it came from actual farmers.”
NCGA Biotechnology
Action Team chairman and Plain City, Ohio farmer Fred Yoder felt the
trip yielded positive results. “All of the representatives we met
with appreciated our willingness to sit down face-to-face and listen,”
he said. “They were very interested in the fact that using biotech
is an agronomic, economic and environmental consideration for U.S. farmers
and not something that’s done blindly without reason.”
Yoder said also
he appreciated USGC allowing growers to accompany them on this mission.
“I can’t thank them enough for allowing us to go,” he
said. “By taking actual growers along on this trip, USGC and NCGA
has really made this mission a breakthrough.”
Tolman said a primary
obstacle during the meetings was the myths surrounding biotech. “One
of the myths is the United States only sends biotech corn overseas and
we only use non-biotech,” he said. “We want them to know the
U.S. is customer-friendly when it comes to trade. We want to send the
message we can send the right product for the right market.
“We must continue
to release accurate information,” Tolman continued. “Again,
when they heard U.S. farmers talk about how they lived on the land they
farmed and would not farm anything that’s going to hurt their land
or their families, it was a positive message that was received well
by our hosts.”
Participating in
the mission along with Tolman and Yoder were: Lee Klein, NCGA president
and farmer from Battle Creek, Neb; Leon Corzine, NCGA Biotechnology
Working Group member and farmer from Assumption, Ill; David McGuire,
USGC director of trade relations and global strategies; and Ellen Dougherty,
USGC director of communications.
For more information
about the National Corn Growers Association, visit www.ncga.com
<http://www.ncga.com>. For more information about U.S. Grains
Council, visit www.grains.org <http://www.grains.org>.
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