News

U.S., EU and Japan Trade Ministers Meeting

Ambassador Robert E. Lighthizer, United States Trade Representative; Mrs. Cecilia Malmström, European Commissioner for Trade; and Mr. Hiroshige Seko, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan, met in Paris on May 23, 2019 to discuss shared objectives to address non market-oriented policies and practices of third countries that lead to create unfair competitive conditions for their workers and businesses.

During the meeting the ministers reiterated their concerns and agreed to deepen cooperation in the following areas:

  1. Market-oriented conditions;
  2. Forced technology transfer policies and practices;
  3. Industrial subsides and state-owned enterprises;
  4. WTO reform;
  5. and digital trade and e-commerce.

The Ministers also voiced concerns over industrial subsidies and third parties’ developing State Enterprises into national champions, disrupting market-oriented trade and confirmed that market-oriented conditions are fundamental to a fair, mutually advantageous global trading system. Additionally, the Ministers welcomed progress made in discussions on text-based work on increasing transparency, identifying harmful subsides that merit stricter treatment and ensuring that appropriate benchmarks can be used. Ministers instructed their staff to continue efforts to finalize trilateral text-based work on this issue and to engage with other key WTO Members to strengthen industrial subsidies rules to address market distortions.

The full statement on the meeting can be found here.

USMCA Statement of Administrative Action

On Thursday, May 31 the U.S. Trade Representative released its draft statement of administrative action to Congressional leadership on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). The draft statement provides an outline for further discussion with Congress on issues related to the USMCA as Congress considers implementing legislation. The release of the draft statement kicks off a 30 days time period after which Congress could begin to consider and act upon implementing legislation. After these 30 days, Congress could pass USMCA in as little as 90 days.

A copy of the draft statement can be found here.

U.S. Treasury Foreign Exchange Policy Report

On May 28, 2019, the U.S. Department of the Treasury delivered to Congress the semiannual Report on Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners of the United States. Treasury reviewed and assessed in this report the policies of an expanded set of 21 major U.S. trading partners.  Additionally, Treasury revised and updated the thresholds it uses to assess where unfair currency practices or imbalanced macroeconomic policies may be emerging.

Treasury found that nine major trading partners continue to warrant placement on Treasury’s “Monitoring List” of major trading partners that merit close attention to their currency practices:  China, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam.

The full report can be accessed here.

NAEGA-APPAMEX Forum

On May 22-24 Ryan travelled to Cancun, Mexico to attend the 26th Annual NAEGA-APPAMEX Forum at the Hotel Secrets the Vine. During the forum, Ryan represented NAEGA and IGTC policy positions before nearly 160 participants, including representatives of the Mexican feed industry association CONAFAB. Mr. Olson also met with representatives of the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Development (SAGARPA) and the National Service for Agrifood Health, Safety and Quality (SENASICA). On Friday, May 24 Mr. Olson presented before the general session on Leading Trade Policies in the Global Economy. Also, on Friday, Katy Lee, Secretariat of the International Grain Trade Coalition (IGTC) presented virtually from Brussels on IGTC policy priorities and multilateral regulatory issues.

A copy of Katy and Ryan’s presentations can be found here and here.

U.S. OFAC Terrorist Assets Report

On May 29, 2019, OFAC released the 2018 Terrorist Assets Report. The 2018 Terrorist Assets report is an annual report provided to Congress outlining the nature and extent of assets held in the U.S. by terrorism-supporting countries and organizations engaged in international terrorism.

Terrorist organizations such as al’Qai’da (AQ) and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) are examples of terrorist organizations mentioned in the report.

Countries labeled as “state-sponsors of terrorism” and which may have trade restrictions include:

  • Iran
  • Sudan
  • Syria
  • North Korea

The full report can be found here.

Japan GE Food Labeling

The Japanese Government has finalized a genetically engineered (GE) food labeling regulation that is scheduled to come into effect in 2023. The new regulation establishes a new definition for “non-GE” labeling, which will be allowed only when GE elements are not detectable. Japan’s current labeling system allows for a product containing up to five percent of GE components, which are unintentionally comingled into the product, to be labeled as “non-GE.” As a result of concern that this was misleading, regulators have agreed to create new labeling language for Identity Preserved (IP) products containing up to five percent of unintentional commingled GE components and a zero percent threshold for voluntary “non-GE” labeling.

A copy of the GAIN report with more details on these changes is available here.

IPPC CPM Trip Report

A trip report is now available for Katy Lee’s travel to Rome, Italy for the IPPC Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM).  Activities during this mission included:

  • Attendance at the IPPC CPM where discussion of electronic phytosanitary certificates (ePhyto) reached 500 delegates.
  • Presentation by the IGTC and on behalf of the Chair of the ePhyto Industry Advisory Group (IAG) on industry case studies from the initial phase of the ePhyto Solution.
  • Representation of NAEGA and IGTC priorities before the CPM and member government representatives.

The full trip report can be found here.

EU MRL Comments

USDA APHIS is seeking public comments on the European Union’s notification to the WTO regarding Maximum Residue Limits for cyflufenamid, fenbuconazole, fluquinconazole and tembotrione. A detailed list of products showing changes to Maximum Residue Limits can be seen here.  Please submit comments to Rachel.Vanderberg@usda.gov and PlantDivision@fas.usda.gov by May 24, 2019.

Enogen Stewardship

On Tuesday, May 7 Gary and Ryan met with representatives from Syngenta to receive an update on their Enogen corn stewardship plans.

Syngenta is currently expanding sales of Enogen as a feed corn among 3,000 growers, with concentrations in Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, Michigan, New England and Wisconsin. Syngenta anticipates that, in 2019/2020, two-thirds of Enogen corn will go to feed, while the remaining third will go to fuel usage. As parts of its commercialization, Syngenta is conducting stewardship trainings with its growers and rolling out IP360.com, a password protected mapping software containing information on Enogen corn locations based on contracts between Syngenta and growers. A high resolution, password protected site will be available to consumers and handlers and a lower resolution site will be available to the general public.

More information on Syngenta’s Enogen commercialization can be found here.

U.S. DHS Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards Program

NAEGA would like to make its members aware of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards Program (CFATS). CFATS is the first DHS regulatory program focused specifically on security at high-risk chemical facilities. Any facility that maintains holdings of Chemicals of Interest at or above the quantities and concentrations specified in the CFATS regulation list must comply with CFATS requirements. If DHS determines that a facility is high-risk, the facility must submit for approval a Site Security Plan or an Alternative Security Program that includes security measures to meet applicable risk-based performance standards established by DHS. Following approval, facilities enter into a regular cycle of compliance inspections.

An online screening process quickly determines whether your facility is considered “high-risk” by DHS, and can be found here: www.dhs.gov/chemicalsecurity

More information on CFATS can be found here.