FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Contact: (202) 225-1721
January 26, 1998
No. TR-20
Congressman Philip M. Crane (R-IL), Chairman, Subcommittee on Trade of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the status of U.S. efforts to reduce barriers to trade in agriculture. The hearing will take place on Thursday, February 12, 1998, in room B-318 Rayburn House Office Building, beginning at 2:00 p.m.
Oral testimony at this hearing will be from both invited and public witnesses. Invited witnesses will include Ambassador Peter Scher, Special Trade Negotiator for the Office of the United States Trade Representative. Also, any individual or organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the Committee or for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing.
BACKGROUND:
As the most competitive producer of food and agricultural products in the world, the United States stands to gain enormously from the continued elimination of trade barriers in this sector. While the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture laid the groundwork for the progressive reduction of market access barriers, domestic supports and export subsidies, significant barriers to U.S. agricultural exports remain. Article 20 of the Agreement states that member countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO) agree to initiate negotiations in 1999 for continuing the process of reform.
However, preparatory work in the WTO has been slow because of the reluctance of a number of countries to agree to consider a broad range of issues in the negotiations. The United States has expressed interest in addressing implementation of the WTO agreement in areas such as the administration of tariff rate quotas (TRQs), the use of special safeguards for agricultural imports, and circumvention of export subsidy reduction commitments. Other possible issues for the future WTO agenda include the operations of state-trading enterprises, trade in biotechnology products, and strengthening the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures, which restricts the use of non-scientifically based SPS standards that unfairly deny market access.
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has achieved substantial trade liberalization for U.S. exports of agricultural products. In addition, the United States has been successful in challenging a number of foreign policies and practices under the WTO dispute settlement process. Future opportunities to achieve expanded market access have been identified in ongoing negotiations to establish a Free Trade Agreement of the Americas, and in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. Finally, China, Russia and Taiwan, three important markets for U.S. farm exports, are currently involved in discussions with the United States and other member countries concerning requirements for their possible accession to the WTO.
In announcing the hearing Chairman Crane stated: "Although the Uruguay Round Agreements succeeded for the first time in bringing agriculture trade under standard multilateral disciplines, the WTO Agreement on agriculture is only a beginning. Arguably the most important provision in this agreement is the one providing for the initiation of a second round of negotiations for trade in agriculture. I look forward to actively contributing to developing the U.S. agenda for these important trade talks set to be launched next year."
FOCUS OF THE HEARING:
The hearing will examine the implementation and enforcement of the Uruguay Round trade agreements and the NAFTA as they relate to trade in agricultural products. In particular, the Subcommittee is interested in receiving views from the public on the impact of these trade agreements on the U.S. agriculture sector and issues unresolved in, or arising from, these agreements that warrant further attention by the Subcommittee, such as: (1) the adequacy of current mechanisms for consulting with Congress and the private sector; (2) goals and objectives for future trade negotiations; (3) the importance of legislation to extend the President's "fast-track" trade negotiating authority for the purpose of concluding future agreements; and, (4) the achievement of consistency and coordination among the various existing and future trade agreements governing this sector.
DETAILS FOR SUBMISSIONS OF REQUESTS TO BE HEARD:
Requests to be heard at the hearing must be made by telephone to Traci Altman or Bradley Schreiber at (202) 225-1721 no later than the close of business, Friday, February 6, 1998. The telephone request should be followed by a formal written request to A.L. Singleton, Chief of Staff, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, 1102 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515. The staff of the Subcommittee on Trade will notify by telephone those scheduled to appear as soon as possible after the filing deadline. Any questions concerning a scheduled appearance should be directed to the Subcommittee on Trade staff at (202) 225-6649.
In view of the limited time available to hear witnesses, the Subcommittee may not be able to accommodate all requests to be heard. Those persons and organizations not scheduled for an oral appearance are encouraged to submit written statements for the record of the hearing. All persons requesting to be heard, whether they are scheduled for oral testimony or not, will be notified as soon as possible after the filing deadline.
Witnesses scheduled to present oral testimony are required to summarize briefly their written statements in no more than five minutes. THE FIVE-MINUTE RULE WILL BE STRICTLY ENFORCED. The full written statement of each witness will be included in the printed record, in accordance with House Rules.
In order to assure the most productive use of the limited amount of time available to question witnesses, all witnesses scheduled to appear before the Subcommittee are required to submit 200 copies of their prepared statement and an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in ASCII DOS Text or WordPerfect 5.1 format, for review by Members prior to the hearing. Testimony should arrive at the Subcommittee on Trade office, room 1104 Longworth House Office Building, no later than close of business, February 10, 1998. Failure to do so may result in the witness being denied the opportunity to testify in person.
WRITTEN STATEMENTS IN LIEU OF PERSONAL APPEARANCE:
Any person or organization wishing to submit a written statement for the printed record of the hearing should submit at least six (6) single-space legal-size copies of their statement, along with an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in ASCII DOS Text or WordPerfect 5.1 format only, with their name, address, and hearing date noted on a label, by the close of business, Thursday, February 26, 1998, to A.L. Singleton, Chief of Staff, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, 1102 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515. If those filing written statements wish to have their statements distributed to the press and interested public at the hearing, they may deliver 200 additional copies for this purpose to the Subcommittee on Trade office, room 1104 Longworth House Office Building, at least one hour before the hearing begins.
FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS:
Each statement presented for printing to the Committee by a witness, any written statement or exhibit submitted for the printed record or any written comments in response to a request for written comments must conform to the guidelines listed below. Any statement or exhibit not in compliance with these guidelines will not be printed, but will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
1. All statements and any accompanying exhibits for printing must be typed in single space on legal-size paper and may not exceed a total of 10 pages including attachments. At the same time written statements are submitted to the Committee, witnesses are now requested to submit their statements on an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in ASCII DOS Text or WordPerfect 5.1 format. Witnesses are advised that the Committee will rely on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record.
2. Copies of whole documents submitted as exhibit material will not be accepted for printing. Instead, exhibit material should be referenced and quoted or paraphrased. All exhibit material not meeting these specifications will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
3. A witness appearing at a public hearing, or submitting a statement for the record of a public hearing, or submitting written comments in response to a published request for comments by the Committee, must include on his statement or submission a list of all clients, persons, or organizations on whose behalf the witness appears.
4. A supplemental sheet must accompany each statement listing the name, full address, a telephone number where the witness or the designated representative may be reached and a topical outline or summary of the comments and recommendations in the full statement. This supplemental sheet will not be included in the printed record.
The above restrictions and limitations apply only to material being submitted for printing. Statements and exhibits or supplementary material submitted solely for distribution to the Members, the press and the public during the course of a public hearing may be submitted in other forms.
The
Committee seeks to make its facilities accessible to persons with
disabilities. If you are in need of special accommodations, please
call 202-225-1721 or 202-226-3411 TTD/TTY in advance of the event
(four business days notice is requested). Questions with regard to
special accommodation needs in general (including availability of
Committee materials in alternative formats) may be directed to the
Committee as noted above.