Grassley Says Ag Trade Better Represented with Changes Made by USDA

Grassley Says Ag Trade Better Represented with Changes Made by USDA

- Sen. Chuck Grassley today said the modern agricultural economy will be better represented thanks to the establishment of a new trade advisory committee for processed foods at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He urged interested Iowans to apply for advisory positions.

"USDA has made substantial changes to the trade advisory committee system that Congress first created in 1974. Creating a committee to represent the processed food sector was a necessary change," Grassley said.

In 2001, Grassley asked the General Accounting Office, an independent arm of Congress, to examine the U.S. Trade Representative's advisory committee system for its effectiveness. The agricultural advisory committees provide the Secretary of Agriculture and the U.S. Trade Representative with information and advice on negotiating objectives, bargaining positions and other matters related to the development, implementation and administration of the U.S. agricultural trade policy.

"Our government is now aggressively pursuing more new trade agreements than at any other point in history," Grassley said. "These negotiations are complicated and have high stakes for American agriculture. So it's very important to give stakeholders in agriculture every opportunity to make their voices heard."

Individuals interested in serving on a trade advisory committee at the U.S. Department of Agriculture can obtain information at http://www.fas.usda.gov/info/fr/notices.html.

Grassley is chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, which is responsible for trade legislation. He is also a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee.