Press Releases

Chairman Bob Goodlatte announced today that Rep. Jerry Moran will lead a delegation of Congressional members to Geneva this week to meet with officials involved in the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Doha round of negotiations. Rep. Moran is the Chairman of the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management and will be traveling on behalf of the House Committee on Agriculture. The Subcommittee Chairman will represent the interests of U.S. agriculture in discussions with various international trade officials and representatives regarding progress in the ongoing trade talks.

“I am pleased that Rep. Moran will be representing American agriculture in Geneva this week. Trade is vital to our producers as one in three U.S. farm acres is planted for export and 25 percent of gross farm income comes directly from exports. The House Committee on Agriculture has paid close attention to the WTO trade talks and we would like to see some progress; however, we need to see increased market access and tariff reductions for our producers before we can accept any trade agreement,” said Chairman Bob Goodlatte.

“The ability to sell our products around the world is vital to the success of America’s farmers and ranchers,” Moran said. “We want to make this message clear in Geneva when we talk to trade officials and representatives from countries that have an interest in these negotiations.”

The delegation will meet with top U.S. and WTO officials involved in the negotiations, as well as representatives from six continents to discuss general progress on opening markets for U.S. producers and reducing trade barriers. In early March, the House Committee on Agriculture met with Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns and U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman to discuss the state of the negotiations following the WTO Ministerial in Hong Kong in December.

http://republicans-agriculture.house.gov

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