TRADE NEGOTIATING AUTHORITY WOULD REDUCE TRADE BARRIERS

WASHINGTON, D.C., Sept. 18, 1997 -- The Clinton Administration's proposal to renew negotiating authority for international trade agreements would give the United States the opportunity to reduce barriers in existing beef markets and gain access to new beef markets, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association said today.

   "NCBA supports proposed legislation to renew cooperation between Congress and the executive branch for negotiation and implementation of market-opening trade agreements," said NCBA President-Elect Clark Willingham, Dallas, Texas.

   Trade negotiating authority, which has been held by every president since 1974, allows the Administration to negotiate trade agreements in good faith by requiring Congress to vote them up or down rather than amending them.

   NCBA urges support for trade agreements incorporating agriculture, including agreements that would:

• implement a veterinary-equivalency agreement with China and gain meaningful access to the beef market in China,
• resolve differences in grade specifications and gain access to the beef market in Chile,
• continue the focus of the World Trade Organization to resolve the European ban on U.S. beef,
• eliminate state grading systems that restrict access for U.S. beef in certain Mexican markets,
• facilitate exports of U.S. feeder cattle to Canada with a minimum of testing and expense, and
• eliminate North American grain trade distortions.

   "The U.S. and other developed countries do have a responsibility to help developing countries increase standards of living and to help them resolve environmental problems. Increased trade and the increased standard of living that accompanies trade are the most effective means to achieve these objectives."

   The Administration earlier had been seeking controversial authority to include broad labor and environmental standards in trade negotiations, but instead submitted legislation which would only include the standards if they are directly related to trade.

   "As urged by NCBA and other agricultural organizations last week, the Administration remained pragmatic in their use of language regarding labor and environmental standards in an attempt to gain broad bipartisan support for fast-track negotiating authority," Willingham said. "The proposed legislation is not over-burdened with labor and environmental language."

   "NCBA and the beef industry will continue working to assure that trade agreements do not abdicate private property rights in the interest of international trade law," he said. "While working to open new markets for U.S. beef, NCBA will continue work to ensure that existing trade agreements are enforced and to ensure that trade agreements are based on sound scientific principles."

   Initiated in 1898, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association is the marketing organization and trade association for America's one million cattle farmers and ranchers. With offices in Denver, Chicago and Washington, D.C., NCBA is a consumer-focused, producer-directed organization representing the largest segment of the nation's food and fiber industry.