As part of the ongoing effort by ASA and the U.S. Biotech Crops Alliance to elevate the importance of market access for agriculture in China, ASA and other producer groups have joined together in outreach to the Administration.  Along with the U.S. Grains Council, National Corn Growers Association and the American Farm Bureau Federation, ASA has engaged with officials from the National Security Council and the U.S. Department of State to raise the issue of biotechnology approvals in China.

President Obama is expected to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings in Beijing this November, where he will meet with President Xi Jinping.  In meetings with key officials of the Administration, ASA has stressed the importance of high level and broad U.S. Government engagement with China on these issues, and requested that the issue be addressed during the President’s agenda on his trip to the APEC Summit.

In addition to engaging with China during the APEC summit, ASA and the other producer groups have requested that Secretary Lew of the U.S. Treasury Department raise the issue of regulatory approval procedures for biotechnology products in conversations with Vice Premier Li.

“China is a key export market for U.S. farmers. Exports of U.S. corn, soybeans and dried distillers grains to China totaled over $16 billion in 2013,” the letter to Secretary Lew states. “This trade has been put at risk by China’s restrictive regulatory approval procedures for biotechnology products.”

Click here to read the entire letter.