By Andrew Conner, U.S. Grains Council Manager of Global Biotechnology
While the United States and Colombia will both benefit from the ratification of the free trade pact, a proposed biotech regulation has the potential to put the country’s corn imports from all sources, including the U.S., at risk. The Council is actively working to help Colombian stakeholders resolve this problem.
Colombia imports over 3 million metric tons (118 million bushels) of corn a year. Until 2008, it was a U.S.-dominated market, but the delay in ratification of the FTA allowed Argentina and Brazil to gain market share. With passage of the FTA, the U.S. is now looking to rebound from third place. But U.S., Argentine, and Brazilian corn is all biotech – as are Colombia’s smaller imports from other Latin American sources — and imports from all sources could be curtailed due to restrictive regulations on the import of grains containing biotech events. This regulation simply is not commercially viable given the current pace of the approvals and the robust biotech industry product pipeline.
The U.S. Grains Council is committed to working with the Colombian industry and government to ensure the regulations are clearly written and implemented, so they do not damage U.S. corn exports to Colombia or hinder the competiveness of the Colombian food and feed sectors. As part of this effort the Council hosted a U.S. Embassy Bogota sponsored team of industry and government representatives from Colombia last week at its headquarters in Washington, D.C. The team met with U.S. industry leaders from the North American Export Grain Association and Corn Refiners Association for discussions on the global grain and food processing industries and how government policies on traceability and labeling can impact Colombia’s access to the global market for raw materials.
After the D.C. visit, the team traveled to the University of Missouri for a biotech regulatory workshop. The meetings aimed to assist the Colombians address current biotech issues and build capacity within government and industry, so they would be prepared for issues that may arise in the future.
The Council is hopeful that through these efforts, we will be able to resolve this potential market access barrier to the Colombian market.