2014 LOGAN COUNTY FARM OUTLOOK MAGAZINE LINCOLN DAILY NEWS.com November 4, 2014 53
What’s happening on the
GMO/foreign trade issue
A
s much as one third of
all grain produced in the
U.S. moves into export. In
2011 approximately $42.3 billion
worth of grains and oilseeds were
exported from the United States.
Only 10 percent of U.S. corn and
soybeans brought to market today
are not a genetically modified
organism.
In 2013, several foreign markets
began rejecting grain shipment
that contained traces of GMOs
that by regulation were not yet
accepted by their governments.
Lead U.S. government agencies,
all levels of the agriculture
industry - producers, processors,
associations - have weighed in
looking at how to work together
on this issue of Biotech products
that have not yet been approved in
foreign markets.
The result is an ambitious set
of trade negotiations in process
that includes the Trans-Pacific
Partnership and the Transatlantic
Trade and Investment Partnership.
The lead industry groups are
lobbying for shared reasonable
responsibility in the trade
agreements.
From the National Corn
Growers Association:
“NCGA supports the inclusion
of Japan in the TPP negotiations,
and continues to call for a
comprehensive liberalized final
package. A strong focus on
sanitary and phytosanitary issues
and nontariff measures that
hamper U.S. agricultural exports
Story by Jan Youngquist
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