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Representatives of the U.S. Grains Council met with USDA Under Secretary Jim Miller earlier this week in Geneva, Switzerland, for insight into the World Trade Organization’s Ministerial Conference taking place there and to learn about progress being made in the Doha Round of WTO negotiations.
According to a press release from the council, Miller said that Ministerial Conference was not a negotiating session, but that the Doha Round is moving toward a close and his primary concern is that the United States gets adequate market access from advanced developing nations.
In a press release, USGC president and CEO Thomas C. Dorr said his organization “supports the United States’ position consistently stating that we want the following: market access; more clarity on the modality texts; and to know what products will be designated as special or requiring special safeguards in the designated tariff lines.”
He added that the council “will continue to follow these negotiations closely as they directly affect the economic standing of the United States as well as the U.S. farmer."