Following his runoff election victory in Argentina, Mauricio Macri has quickly implemented economic reforms, including entering into the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) with the United States.
This should provide opportunities for the international maize alliance MAIZALL to further promote the organization’s objectives, including global asynchronous and asymmetric approvals; harmonization of regulatory policies in the Americas; and communication on modern agricultural practices.

While Argentina and the United States are competitors for global corn market share, they face many of the same barriers to sales of corn and corn co-products. The work of MAIZALL and the new TIFA agreement are both steps toward overcoming these challenges.

The TIFA is an agreement that aims to facilitate a dialogue between the United States and Argentina on a broad range of trade and investment issues, including market access and cooperation on agricultural matters. In addition, the agreement states both countries will work together to expand global agricultural trade and combat non-scientific barriers to trade, including those for agricultural products.

All of these are topics MAIZALL has been working to overcome since its inception in 2013.

“This agreement will be invaluable towards MAIZALL achieving some of the organization’s key areas of focus,� said Sergio Bortolozzo, MAIZALL president and farmer from Brazil.
“For example, one major objective is to coordinate with industry and governments of Argentina, Brazil and the United States to present a unified voice advocating to synchronize global approvals of biotechnology products and develop effective low-level presence (LLP) policies. This agreement works towards unifying that voice.�

In its first three years, MAIZALL has met with government and industry leaders in China, South Korea and the European Union, as well as officials at the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to encourage improvements in the biotechnology approval process in key export markets.

“MAIZALL is committed to promoting the harmonization of regulatory policies in the Americas to encourage increased market access,� Bortolozzo said. “The TIFA is paving a path for a potential comprehensive trade agreement between the United States and Argentina, which could be a step toward achieving both of these goals.�

MAIZALL is a partnership of four national corn producer associations in the three major corn exporting countries in the Americas: the U.S. Grains Council and the National Corn Growers Association in the United States, ABRAMILHO in Brazil and MAIZAR in Argentina.

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.
In the coming year, MAIZALL will work closely with Argentina on this new initiative and continue to coordinate activities in China and the European Union as well as explore further work with both the WTO and FAO.

Click here to learn more about MAIZALL.