FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Agriculture Programs Not Cause of Breakdown of G4 Trade Meeting, Notes NCGA

ST. LOUIS (June 22, 2007)—The stalemate in the Doha Round negotiations stems from failure to agree on non-agricultural market access, not U.S. farm programs, the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) notes. U.S. negotiators along with officials from the European Union, Brazil and India had been pursuing an agreement this week in Potsdam, Germany, to advance the Doha Round negotiations.

“The U.S. farm programs are not the reason that the talks failed,” said Ron Litterer, NCGA first vice president. “The United States showed a great deal of flexibility in the negotiations in order to try and achieve a successful outcome at the talks. Unfortunately, inflexibility from others in the G4 on market access issues involving agriculture products also led to this development.

“NCGA is grateful for all of the efforts put forth by the U.S. negotiating team,” he continued. “U.S. agriculture should take comfort in knowing the team did not accept a bad deal that would hinder American farmers and ranchers.”

NCGA is a strong supporter of multilateral and bilateral efforts to advance free trade and market access for corn growers and its customers. NCGA continues to support the U.S. negotiators as they work to increase market opportunities for agriculture producers.

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The National Corn Growers Association’s mission is to create and increase opportunities for corn growers. NCGA represents nearly 33,000 members, 45 affiliated state organizations and hundreds of thousands of growers who contribute to state checkoff programs. For more information, log on to www.ncga.com.