News

New Venezuela Related Sanctions

On November 1 U.S. President Trump signed an Executive Order Blocking Property of Additional Persons Contributing to the Situation in Venezuela. The order is designed to counter rampant corruption within the Government of Venezuela, which continues to exacerbate the economic and humanitarian crises afflicting the Venezuelan people. With this order, OFAC expects to use its discretion to target in particular those who operate corruptly in the gold or other identified sectors of the Venezuela economy, and not those who are operating legitimately in such sectors. This includes, for example, persons engaging in dishonest or fraudulent conduct, illicit activity, or deceptive transactions within Venezuela’s gold sector or other identified Venezuela sectors, with the purpose or effect of misappropriating Venezuelan resources in those sectors for personal, professional, or political gain.

A copy of the order can be found here and a FAQ page regarding the order can be found here.

Farewell to Brigid

On Wednesday, October 31 NAEGA bid farewell to our intern Brigid Flay. NAEGA intern since May 2018, Brigid is leaving to take up an exciting full-time opportunity at the U.S. Grains Council. We wish Brigid all the best!

Do you know someone who is interested in interning with NAEGA? If so, please email Ryan or Gary for more information.  

U.S. FDA Plant and Animal Biotechnology Action Plan

On October 29 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Announced that it will be implementing what it calls a “Plant and Animal Biotechnology Innovation Action Plan” that is scheduled to be rolled out in phases in 2019 through 2020. The action plan aims to implement and clarify risk-based policies with the goals of ensuring that developers know what they need to do to efficiently bring a product to market, and that consumers and the public understand how the FDA’s regulatory system helps ensure the safety of such products. The Action Plan identifies concrete priorities in three key areas:

  • Advancing public health by promoting innovation
  • Strengthening public outreach and communication
  • Increasing engagement with domestic and international partners

 

A copy of the action plan can be found here.

 

ADM, Bunge, Cargill, LDC partner to modernize global agricultural trade

On October 25,  Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM), Bunge Limited, Cargill, Inc., and Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) announced they are working together to find ways to standardize and digitize global agricultural shipping transactions for the benefit of the entire industry. In the short term, they hope to address inefficiencies in processing trade documents. In the long term, they seek to improve trade by moving away from paper-based documents to a digital-based approach. Benefits of this would include improved quality and reliability of documents, greater visibility across supply-chain movements, standardized data using technologies accessible to all players, and increased overall efficiency and transparency.

Read the full press release here.

Japanese Grain and Oilseed Industry Cocktail Reception – November 30

Please join industry and government colleagues including NAEGA President Gary C. Martin and Senior Advisors Samuel Bonilla and Andrew Marting for a celebration honoring the Japanese grain and oilseed industry.

The North American Export Grain Association looks forward to hosting this business networking cocktail reception on November 30 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM JST at TKP Gardencity Shinagawa, Shinagawa Goos.

Please RSVP to Gary Martin (gcmartin@naega.org) or Ryan Olson (rolson@naega.org) or at the registration link here.

Contracts and Best Practices Seminar – Tokyo, Japan – November 30

Please join NAEGA in Tokyo, Japan for a seminar on Commercial and Official Best Practices in the Japan-U.S. Grain Trade!

Led by NAEGA Senior Advisors Sam Bonilla and Andrew Marting and President and CEO Gary Martin, this seminar is an interactive, industry-wide opportunity to learn and exchange ideas on major official and commercial practices effecting the Japan-U.S. grain trade. 

Please click here to register for the Seminar. 

The preliminary agenda includes:

13:00-13:15: Welcome and introductions 

13:15-13:45: Update on current official and commercial practices and an identification of needs and opportunities. 

13:45-15:00: Introduction to the global contracting environment and the NAEGA 2 Contract

15:00-15:30: Break
 15:30-16:00: NAEGA 2 Contract revisions review

16:00-16:30: Best official practices in the Japan-U.S. grain trade 

16:30-17:00: Dialogue on global, regional and the Japan-U.S. bilateral trade relationships 

17:00: Adjourn

The seminar is free to NAEGA members and non-members. NAEGA member representatives are encouraged to invite others by forwarding this invitation. 

Please contact Ryan Olson at rolson@naega.org or 202-682-4030 if you have any questions. 

IGTC General Assembly – Beijing China – November 28

All NAEGA members and their representatives are invited to attend the IGTC General Assembly in Beijing, China on November 28. The General Assembly will take place COFCO LDC, North Long Quan Wu Village, Men Tou Gou District, Beijing from 8am-2:30pm and feature a lunch sponsored by CNAGS. More details and an agenda will be available soon.

If you are interested in attending please contact Ryan at rolson@naega.org.

World Grain Production and Trade Forum – Beijing, China – November 27

All NAEGA members and their representatives are invited to attend a World Grain Production and Trade Forum in Beijing, China on November 27. The Forum, led by COFCO, CNAGS and the IGTC, will take place at COFCO LDC, North Long Quan Wu Village, Men Tou Gou District, Beijing from 9am-5pm. A preliminary speakers include:

  • Yu Xubo, President of COFCO and CNAGS
  • Ren Zhi, Vice President of CNAGS
  • Chinese government agencies and Ministry of Agriculture officials
  • Arnaud Petit, Executive Director of the International Grains Council (IGC)
  • Gary C. Martin, President of IGTC

Other invitees include experts, leaders, and entrepreneurs from Chinese supervisor government sector of grain, the China national grain information center, grain associations and enterprises.

International guest speakers will be present to provide expertise and updates on the production and trading environment in China and the world.

If you are interested in attending please contact Ryan at rolson@naega.org.

NAEGA-NGFA Comments to U.S. International Trade Commission

This week NAEGA and the National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) submitted a request to testify before the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) regarding the economic impact of the U.S-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). In the joint oral statement submitted by NAEGA and NGFA, Randy Gordon, President of NGFA, highlights several provisions of the USMCA that NAEGA and NGFA believe will benefit the future competitiveness and economic growth of the U.S. grain, feed and oilseed processing sectors. These include: preserving or expanding market access; maintaining the dispute system settlement for anti-dumping and countervailing duty cases; and making significant improvements to tackling non-tariff barriers and reduce trade disruptions.  

A copy of the oral testimony can be found here.

IGTC Newsletter

The latest IGTC newsletter is now available! Highlights include information from the IGTC’s recent meeting with the International Seed Federation (ISF), a presentation from IGTC’s visit to the South African Cereals and Oilseeds Trade Association (SACOTA), and a report from the IGTC’s panel session at the 2018 WTO Public Forum.

Read the full newsletter here.