The board of directors for MAIZALL, the international maize alliance, reaffirmed the organization’s commitment to strategic cooperation in addressing market access issues related to biotechnology and other agricultural technologies last week during a meeting in Uruguay.

The meeting was focused on solidifying outreach plans for 2016 and discussing the future of MAIZALL as an organization.

“We had a very productive meeting in which we were able to set the course for 2016 and help build our organization’s capacity for our work,â€� said MAIZALL Immediate Past President Julius Schaaf. “This planning will help make MAIZALL more effective moving forward.â€�

In 2016, MAIZALL’s focus will be:

• continuing engagement with government and industry leaders in China to create an open dialogue about the importance of trade and innovation to Chinese food security objectives;
• continuing to monitor the performance of the European Commission on issuing approvals to determine if MAIZALL needs to re-engage in that region; and
• improving capacity to communicate to both the World Trade Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations the impacts that biotechnology regulations have on trade and, in turn, the ability of farmers to meet global demand.

MAIZALL was formed in 2013 by the national corn producer associations of the three major corn exporting countries of the Americas, the United States, Argentina and Brazil. While MAIZALL is a private sector, farmer-led organization, each of the partners is working closely with the agricultural ministries of their respective countries, which support the goal of export expansion.

For example, last year the organization held several outreach programs in the European Union; held ongoing discussions with Chinese and Korean officials; and advocated for regulatory harmonization on biotech events among the countries of the Americas.

Click here to visit MAIZALL’s website