By Floyd Gaibler, U.S. Grains Council Director of Trade Policy and Biotechnology

The office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has officially notified Congress of its intent to enter into negotiations with the European Union (EU) on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. This is an opportunity to elevate ongoing discussions on a number of significant longstanding issues, among the most important of which is timely approval of genetically modified (GM) events in crops destined for export.

In its letter to Congress, USTR indicated that its objectives include elimination or reduction of non-tariff barriers that decrease market opportunities for U.S. exports, provide a competitive advantage to products of the EU, or otherwise distort trade, such as sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) restrictions that are not based on science. The U.S. Grains Council will take an active role in working with both governments and our customers to seek a systematic approach to resolving these challenges.

The USTR’s goals also include building on key principles and disciplines of the World Trade Organization Agreement on the application of SPS measures. This includes the commitment to base SPS measures on science and international standards or scientific risk assessments; to apply them only to extent necessary to protect human, animal, or plant life or health; to develop such measures in a transparent manner, without undue delay; and to establish an on-going mechanism for improved dialogue and cooperation addressing bilateral SPS issues.

These are top priorities for the Council and the U.S. feed grain sector in addressing ongoing concerns with loss of market share in key EU country markets. Traditionally, until 1997/98, U.S. exports represented the lion’s share of EU imports of corn and corn co-products. Since then, U.S. corn exports have fallen dramatically to historically low levels and have varied widely year to year. The decline coincided with the introduction of genetically modified organisms in the U.S. market, and the variability in exports can be tied to the timing of EU approvals of GM corn traits.

The EU’s authorization system on GM product approval requests routinely fails to meet its own prescribed timelines. This creates a backlog and a growing gap between approval timelines of the U.S. and the EU. With a steady stream of new, mostly stacked events being submitted for approval, the backlog is likely to increase and create likelihood of not yet EU-authorized GMs in imports. Thus, the ability to respond to market conditions and opportunities to export U.S. feed grains to the EU is severely constrained and unpredictable. Increased trade disruptions will limit markets for U.S. feed grain exports, and ultimately they will result in increased costs for our customers.