Thursday, July 14, 2016

China refused shipments of GMO grain from the USA.

What was that about exporting USA agricultural products? Vilsack is about Monsanto. It would be completely unfair to state small family farms have not flourished under his leadership and I think his policies minimized the impact of the bird flu in the USA.
But, when thinking about TPP, there are real questions about his support of the ? free trade ? policies. Monsanto. TPP is all about Monsanto. The return of the small family American farm is about domestic sales and primarily local economies.

Washington, Oct. 5, 2015 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack (click here) today made the following statement following the successful conclusion of negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership:

"An agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations provides a more level playing field in trade for American farmers. The agreement would eliminate or significantly reduce tariffs on our products and deter non-science based sanitary and phytosanitary barriers that have put American agriculture at a disadvantage in TPP countries in the past. Despite these past barriers, countries in the Trans-Pacific Partnership currently account for up to 42 percent of all U.S. agricultural exports, totaling $63 billion. Thanks to this agreement and its removal of unfair trade barriers, American agricultural exports to the region will expand even further, particularly exports of meat, poultry, dairy, fruits, vegetables, grains, oilseeds, cotton and processed products.

"Increased demand for American agricultural products and expanded agricultural exports as a result of this agreement will support stronger commodity prices and increase farm income. Increased exports under TPP will create more good paying export-related jobs, further strengthening the rural economy. Today, agricultural trade supports more than 1 million jobs here at home and contributes a trade surplus year after year to our nation's economy. All of this activity benefits rural communities and keeps American agriculture on the cutting edge of global commerce. The TPP agreement will contribute to the future strength of American agriculture and helps to ensure that the historic agricultural trade gains achieved under President Obama since 2009 will continue....

I do not lie.

December 27, 2016
By Richard Lopez

China rejected two shipments (click here) -- almost 546,000 tons -- of U.S. dried distillers' grain, a corn byproduct, because it contained genetically modified material, state media reported Friday.
China's top food-quality watchdog rejected the two shipments because they contained MIR162, a special insect-resistant variety of maize developed by Syngenta, a Swiss maker of seeds and pesticides.
The first shipment, 545,000 tons, was rejected last week in Shanghai, state media said. The second shipment, 758 tons, was rejected Monday.
MIR162 is not on the Chinese government's short list of approved grains considered genetically modified organisms, or GMO....