Committee to Track Results of Lifting Agricultural Trade Sanctions
Washington, DC,
April 28, 1999
USDA Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman and Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat, State Department Under Secretary for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs, have confirmed their appearances at the House Agriculture Committee hearing. "This is a significant opportunity for American farmers and ranchers to do what they do best — sell high-quality agriculture goods around the world. On June 9, our hearing may well determine whether today's action has been meaningful in setting up a process that will make these sales. Trade sanctions aim for the dictators and generals, but hurt American farmers and ranchers who work all season to sell food to starving people," said Combest. "Foreign policy should not use food as a weapon that backfires on the American producer, cutting off markets and destroying our reputation as a reliable supplier." Chairman Combest welcomes today's announcement lifting economic sanctions for agriculture to allow sales of agriculture products to several countries in markets closed to American producers. On March 19, Chairman Combest called for the president to use his administrative authority to modify agricultural sanctions placed on Iran, Libya, North Korea and Sudan. Potential sales of 1 million tons of corn and 1 million tons of wheat may be freed for U.S. sale to those nations as a result of today's announcement, according to the USDA. |