Grassley will convene the hearing as chairman of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on International Trade. He said he has organized the discussion because of the "critical importance of preparing for the next round of world trade negotiations for agriculture."
According to the Uruguay Round Agreement, the agricultural negotiations must be re-visited no later than December 1999. And agriculture will likely be a component of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial scheduled for May 18-20 in Geneva.
Grassley said the subcommittee hearing will provide an excellent opportunity, prior to the Ministerial, to discuss what steps the administration is taking to prepare for these negotiations and to solicit guidance from the industry on its priority areas.
In recent months, Grassley has expressed particular concerns about consideration by the administration of a comprehensive trans-Atlantic free trade pact that would not include agricultural issues. In February, Grassley and Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas introduced a sense of the Senate resolution stating that agriculture must be a top priority of the office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) in any agreements sought with the European Union (EU).
In December 1996, Grassley traveled to Singapore for the first-ever meeting of the WTO, where he advocated the interests of American agriculture.
The subcommittee hearing is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m., on Tuesday, April 21, in the Dirksen Building, Room 215. A list of witnesses scheduled to testify is attached.
Written Statements: Any individuals or organizations wishing to present their views on this hearing to the Committee are urged to submit typewritten, single-spaced statements, not exceeding ten pages in length, for inclusion in the hearing record. The date and subject of the hearing must appear on the first page of the statement. Five copies of the statement should be mailed to the Editorial Section, United States Senate, Committee on Finance, Washington, D.C. 20510, and also to Mr. Mark A. Patterson, Minority Staff Director, United States Senate, Committee on Finance, Washington, D.C. 20510. Statements must be received no later than noon on May 1, 1998. Written statements should also be submitted on diskette in a format that can be read by personal computers (plan ASCII text is preferred; other formats will be accepted)..
Witness List
Hearing of the Finance Subcommittee on International Trade
Regarding the 1999 Multilateral Agricultural Trade Negotiations
Tuesday, April 21, 1998, 9:30 a.m. (EDT), Dirksen 215
Panel I
U.S. Senator Sam Brownback, of Kansas
Panel II
Peter Scher
Special Trade Negotiator for Agriculture ? Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
Washington, D.C.
Gus Schumacher
Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services ? U.S. Department of Agriculture
Washington, D.C.
Panel III
Dean Kleckner
President ? American Farm Bureau Federation
Park Ridge, Illinois
Chuck Johnson
Chairman & CEO ? Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc.
Des Moines, Iowa
Bill Campbell
Chairman & CEO ? Central Soya, Inc.
On behalf of the National Oilseed Processors Association
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Carl Peterson
Chairman ? Agri-Mark, Inc.
Delanson, New York
Ann Veneman
Secretary ? California Department of Food and Agriculture
Sacramento, California