October 3, 2000

The U.S. Grains Council (USGC) and the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) quickly launched a "mission" last week to address the concerns of the largest single customer of U.S. corn -- Japan. Japan usually imports more than 600 million bushels of U.S. corn annually.

"A tough, new law goes into effect in Japan on April 1, 2001, that sets a zero tolerance for the import of unapproved agricultural products," explained Ken Hobbie, president and CEO of the USGC, and the senior member of the U.S. team. "Under the new law, importers can face severe fines and prison terms for importing unapproved varieties of corn into Japan. The StarLink taco shell incident sent a shock through the Japanese corn import industry and raised concern about U.S. ability to comply with the new law."

StarLink is currently not approved in Japan and is also the only commercially produced variety of U.S. corn that is not yet approved there. Approval in Japan, while independent of approval in the United States, has been held up pending further data from the life science company. Under the new law, importers can face severe fines and prison terms for importing unapproved varieties of corn into Japan, Hobbie added.

The taco shell incident to which Hobbie referred was the announcement on Sept. 23 that StarLink hybrids, containing a type of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) bacterium that controls European corn borer, was identified in Kraft Taco Bell taco shells in grocery stores.

Kraft voluntarily recalled the taco shells and Aventis, maker of StarLink Bt, has withdrawn the hybrids from the market. A high-level government-industry "tag team" representing U.S. corn growers responded to the Japanese concerns.

In addition to Hobbie, the mission included Rick Tolman, executive vice president and CEO of NCGA; Isi Siddiqui, special assistant for trade to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman, and Bernice Slutsky, science advisor in the USDA's Foreign Ag Service.

"The Japanese received us warmly because our presence demonstrated a swift and aggressive response to their concerns," said Tolman. "We didn't have all of the answers, but we provided enough information and specifics on how we are responding to the problem to help restore confidence in our ability to meet the pending market realities. Also, it reaffirmed our strong commitment to Japan."

They met with the Japan Ministry of Health and Welfare (MHW); Zennoh (the largest co-op in Japan and single largest grain importer); Japan Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF); Japan Starch and Sweetener Industry; Japan Oilseed Processors Industry (corn oil); Japan Brewery Association; Japan Corn Foods Association; Japan Feed Trade Association; Japan Feed Manufacturers Association and the local trade press.