Meeting this week in Brazil, MAIZALL’s officers were focused on the alliance’s mission to Europe. Scheduled for June, the mission will include discussions with EU officials and feed industry leaders on market access and biotechnology issues.

“We face challenges in every region,” said U.S. Grains Council Chairman and MAIZALL President Julius Schaaf, “but the EU biotechnology approval system does not follow its own regulatory and statutory timeline requirements perpetuating asynchronous approvals that continue to disrupt corn exports to the EU.

“With the T-TIP (Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) negotiations underway, it is timely for MAIZALL to stress the importance of Europe living up to its own regulatory timetables on event approvals, and developing trade-enabling standards on low level presence of unapproved events.”

“We know the political obstacles in the EU are substantial,” said USGC Vice Chairman and MAIZALL Board of Directors Member Ron Gray. “That’s why it is so important to have the Council, NCGA (National Corn Growers Association), and our counterparts in Argentina and Brazil working together. We’re not seeking narrow advantage for any one of us. We are seeking a rational and efficient global trading system that works for all of us and for our customers as well.”

While in Brazil, MAIZALL also met with the newly appointed Minister of Agriculture, Neri Geller. Geller strongly supported the efforts of MAIZALL and noted that he will seek to strengthen the partnership between countries on these issues of common concern, particularly with respect to the current situation in China.

“We very much appreciate Minister Geller’s strong support for MAIZALL and commitment to advance sound trade policy,” Schaaf said.

MAIZALL also met with the Brazilian Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock (CNA) to introduce the challenges that maize growers face with the introduction of new technologies in an environment of increasing export opportunities.

MAIZALL was formed by the national corn producer associations of the three major corn exporting countries of the Americas. 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. While in Europe, the MAIZALL mission will also be meeting with Argentine, Brazilian and U.S. diplomatic officials to urge a common front at the inter-governmental level.