Farm groups announce stance on fast track authority
Monday, June 25, 2001 Farm groups announce stance By Jerry Hagstrom Special to Agweek WASHINGTON -- The American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Farmers Union and other farm groups disagreed last week on whether Congress should grant President Bush trade negotiating authority that would prevent Congress from amending upcoming trade agreements. The authority has been known as fast track but Bush calls it trade promotion authority. If it passes, trade negotiators are supposed to consult with Congress during the negotiations, and Congress votes only yes or no on the agreement at the end of the process. Bush hosted 78 agricultural groups at the White House June 18 at a rally to encourage support for the measure. The American Farm Bureau Federation was represented at the White House, but Farm Bureau did not sign a letter presented by the groups to Bush because the letter did not specifically say the groups don't want labor and environmental standards included in the agreements. Farm Bureau President Bob Stallman instead wrote Bush that Farm Bureau "remained concerned" that "attempts by some to use trade agreements as a weapon to make our trading partners comply with certain environment and labor standards is a recipe for ensuring that no meaningful trade agreements can be struck. We object to the inclusion of sanctions and other trade restrictive measures in trade promotion authority and believe other avenues outside of trade exist to achieve these important societal goals." But Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., has said Congress will not pass fast track without dealing with labor and environmental standards. The 300,000-member National Farmers Union June 19 announced its opposition to the presidential trade negotiating authority bill introduced by House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Phil Crane, R-Ill. If adopted, Representative Crane's fast-track trade negotiation legislation will allow, and in fact, encourage U.S. trade negotiators, to concluded bilateral and multilateral trade agreements that continue to disadvantage U.S. farmers and ranchers in the global marketplace, Carlson said. -NT>Four fruit and vegetable groups, which have been suffering low prices partly because of competition from imports, told the House Agriculture Committee they do not have a position on trade negotiating authority. The American Sugar Alliance did not participate in any events last week.:
