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FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NATIONAL CORN GROWERS ASSOCIATION
Cheri Johnson, USCG, (202) 789-0789
Mimi Ricketts, NCGA, (636) 733-9004
July 8, 2004
NCGA, USGC Leaders Assess
Biotech Outlook During Mission to EU, Russia
WASHINGTON – Leaders
from the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) and U.S. Grains
Council (USGC) who recently returned from a fact-finding mission
to the European Union (EU) and Russia say attitudes about biotechnology
remain deeply divided on the Continent and continued outreach is
necessary to ensure consumers and those that claim to represent them
fully appreciate the potential benefits of biotechnology in agriculture.
A delegation of nine USGC and NCGA leaders spent nearly two weeks
in Italy, Austria, Hungary, Poland and Russia gauging attitudes toward
biotechnology and assessing the effects of new EU traceability and
labeling requirements. NCGA President Dee Vaughan said the issues surrounding
the biotechnology debate have changed significantly since the first
USGC-NCGA joint mission four years ago.
“In the beginning, Europeans argued that biotech acceptance
was a food safety issue, but now most of them appear to understand
that isn’t the case,” said Vaughan. “Now they’re
arguing that biotech crops can’t co-exist with organic crops,
so now we’re addressing that concern.”
NCGA Biotech Working
Group Chair Helen Inman said the group met with farmers throughout
central
Europe who seemed to recognize the promise
of biotechnology, but due to consumer attitudes, they view the use
of biotech products as a hopeless endeavor. “They’re worried
that there won’t be a market for their crops because of the widespread
misunderstanding and fear of biotech products in the EU,” explained
Inman.
Terry Wolf, chairman
of the U.S. Grains Council, said European farmers are pursuing value-added
opportunities for their crops just as American
farmers are. “Unfortunately,” said Wolf, “the price
incentives offered under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the
member states for conventional and organic grains is outstripping returns
in the international marketplace, so the result is that EU growers
have been content to forego biotechnology’s potential benefits.
“EU consumers aren’t in our camp on this issue, but neither
are the majority of EU farmers – they simply do not see it in
their collective interest to fight for the technology” said Wolf. “While
we can continue to find pockets of farmers, particularly in the new
member states of Poland and Hungary, who would like to be able to take
advantage of the benefits that have accrued to American, Canadian and
Argentinean corn farmers using biotechnology, the economics of European
farm policy show little sign of moving in that direction.”
Vaughan said one
of the goals of the mission was to dispel popular myths by continuing
a
dialogue with all sectors of European society. “We
heard all kinds of myths about biotech,” he said. “One
of our objectives was to put out as much good information as we could
and get the facts into the hands of decision makers. We aren’t
pushing biotech for biotech’s sake. We are advocating biotech
as another tool in the farmer’s toolbox. If it doesn’t
make economic sense for the farmer to use it, we certainly understand
that. But we do believe the farmer should at least have the choice
to decide.”
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The U.S. Grains Council is a private, non-profit partnership of farmer
and agribusiness organizations committed to building international
markets for U.S. barley, corn, grain sorghum and their products. The
Council is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has 10 international
offices that oversee programs in nearly 80 countries. Support for the
Council comes from its member organizations and the U.S. Department
of Agriculture.
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The National
Corn Growers Association mission is to create and increase opportunities
for corn
growers in a changing world and to enhance corn’s
profitability and usage. NCGA represents more than 33,000 members,
25 affiliated state corn grower organizations and hundreds of thousands
of growers who contribute to state checkoff programs.
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