Lugar Pushes Clinton for Sanctions Action

July 21,1999

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Richard Lugar (R-IN) reminded President Clinton yesterday that regulations to ease agricultural products and medicines sanctions against Iran, Sudan and Libya are long overdue. In May, Lugar's committee was told regulations on the new policy would be ready by the end of June.

In April, the administration announced that food and medicine would be exempted from current and possibly future unilateral sanctions. Under Secretary of State Stuart Eizenstat testified before the ag committee in May and said the administration expected to release regulations by the end of June.

"There is still no definite timetable for implementing this new policy," notes Lugar. "The U.S. agricultural community needs its government's help in rebuilding its reputation and position in international markets. Relieving commercial agricultural sales of the threat of the imposition of unilateral economic is a crucially important first step toward accomplishing these goals."

Lugar introduced legislation earlier this year to require an impact study before sanctions are considered. The bill also would require that sanctions be evaluated for effectiveness and that a sanction expire after two years unless there was a presidential or congressional reauthorization. Also earlier this year, Lugar's committee approved a bill he authored to exempt farm products from sanctions on Iran, Cuba and other countries.

The market potential for U.S. agricultural exports to Iran is significant, says Lugar. During 1994-97, Iran imported an average of 4.45 million tons of wheat, 1.86 million tons of feed grain, 543,000 tons of soy mean and 408,000 tons of soybean oil but none of it from the United States.