Decree 177

On Tuesday, August 2 NAEGA hosted a meeting of the Decree 177 Working Group. Following NAEGA encouragement USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) has agreed to lead the working group which is seeking to provide messaging, broad based coordination and response to AQSIQ to address Decree 177. NAEGA is also working to share information on Decree 177 with colleagues in Argentina, Australia, Brazil and Canada.

NAEGA is in the process of articulation of objectives for industry and multilateral response to ASQIQ’s requirements under Decree 177. According to NAEGA, any response to China should:

Preserve and enhance the competitiveness and provide for a global supply response.

• Exclusively address actions to manage legitimate health and safety risks, thereby allowing for other product parameters to be addressed by appropriate party. For example: commercial parties address logistics including quality
• Strive to improve the relationships with AQSIQ and Chinese buyers.
• Provide for a response that is consistent with best commercial practices.
• Support the responsiveness, resilience and responsibility to the supply chain.
• Prevent the extension of liability or financial guarantees for compliance with Chinese law to exporters.
• Provide for prompt, transparent official action that preserves adequate fungibility of supply and does not include imposition of unjust or unnecessary measures that restrict grain trade.
• The use of sound and best available science for risk assessment, identification and management and mitigation

NAEGA will continue to keep membership up to date as more information becomes available. Please contact Gary or Ryan if you have any questions.

Washington GE Wheat

The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) posted information regarding detection of GE wheat in Washington State, which can be found here. Over the past several weeks NAEGA has been working closely with APHIS, the Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS) and regional and national industry leaders regarding this the finding of that a few wheat plants that exhibited glyphosate resistance found in a fallow field in Washington State was MON71700. Our understanding is that MON71700 is a sister event of MON71800, the event detected in an isolated incident in an Oregon field in 2013. As a sister event, MON71700 has the same inserted DNA as MON71800, just in a different genomic location. MON71700 was evaluated in limited field trials in the Pacific Northwest from 1998 to 2001 but never commercialized. Monsanto’s former glyphosate-tolerant wheat program was shut down in 2004-2005 and Monsanto has not conducted further transgenic wheat trials in the Pacific Northwest since that time.

APHIS has advised NAEGA that there is no evidence of a presence of either MON 71700 or MON71800 in any GMO in the U.S. wheat grain supply. USDA is working to ensure that the current harvest remains free of GE material. USDA FAS, with the support of APHIS and the Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS) is communicating facts to foreign governments, and Monsanto has developed a validated new test method that detects MON71700 and 71800 and is working to make this test available to foreign governments who request it.

Currently, Japan and Korea have requested the new test method and indicated that they will take some actions to suspend imports of U.S. origin wheat until officials can deploy these new tests. Japan has already announced that it will take Western White Wheat off of its August 4 tender. We expect Korea to enable the new test this week and Japan to do so by the end of August if not sooner. Taiwan also requested and has been provided with the new test method that detects both MON71800 and 71700.

NAEGA will continue to follow this issue and release updates to members as the situation develops. Please contact Gary or Ryan if you have any questions.

ILWU/PMA Letter

This week NAEGA joined a multi-industry letter to manufacturers, farmers and agribusinesses, wholesalers, retailers, importers, exporters, distributors, transportation and logistics providers, and other supply chain stakeholders encouraging the International Longshoreman and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) to begin early discussions on either a contract extension or a new contract. In the past, ongoing contract negotiations have led to port disruptions and slowdowns that have had a negative economic impact. The signers of the letter believe that a new model for contract negotiations, one that encourages early and continuous dialogue, is necessary to prevent these unneeded disruptions.

A copy of the letter can be found here. For more information, please contact Gary or Ryan.

IGTC Newsletter – August 3, 2016

The newest edition of the IGTC Newsletter is now available! This week’s newsletter includes coverage of IGTC actions on ePhytos, a call for registrations for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety’s COP-MOP in Cancun, Mexico in December and a report on WTO comments regarding anti-trade rhetoric and protectionist policies. A copy of the newsletter can be found on the IGTC intranet at www.igtcglobal.org or by clicking here.