AFI/ASI Joint Winter Meeting Summary, December 13-15, 2000

AFI Agriculture & International Trade Committee
December 13-15, 2000
NCSL AFI/ASI Joint Winter Meeting Summary

The NCSL AFI/ASI Joint Winter Meeting was held from December 13-15, 2000 in Washington, D.C. The Agriculture and International Trade committee kicked off the meeting December 13 with a session on the new Administration's international trade agenda. The committee then held a series of meetings on topics ranging from food labeling to agricultural contracting. Members adopted a new policy supporting more flexible federal policy regarding the cultivation and marketing of industrial hemp. The committee also passed a policy directed at unfair marketing practices by agribusinesses and adopted an updated version of the existing policy on concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). Copies of all of the policies and handouts are available from Dave Naftzger or Steve Smith at 202-624-5400. Information is also available on the committee's home page.

Fast Forward or Rewind:
The New Administration's International Trade Agenda

Presiding:	Senator Merton "Cap" Dierks, Nebraska, NCSL Agriculture and International Trade Committee Vice-Chair
Speakers:	Dan Griswold, Associate Director, Cato Institute Center for Trade Policy Studies; Jason Hafemeister, Director for Agricultural Negotiations, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
Handouts:	From the Cold War to the Wired World, The Clinton Administration Trade Record; New President Should Be Able to Launch WTO Round in First Year, Barshefsky Says; WTO Agriculture Negotiations Field Competing Proposals; WTO Report Card: America's Economic Stake in Open Trade

During this session, the committee discussed the direction of U.S. trade policy, its impact on the states and strategies to maximize the influence of state legislators.

Contract Farming: The Road to Serfdom or Utopia?

Presiding:	Representative Maxine Bell, Idaho, NCSL Agriculture and International Trade Committee Vice-Chair
Speakers:	Rebeckah Freeman, Natural Resources Director, Kentucky Farm Bureau; Eric Tabor, Chief of Staff, Office of the Iowa Attorney General
Handouts:	Contracting Changes How Farms Do Business; Producer Protection Act 2001; Section by Section Explanation Producer Protection Act; Statement of State Attorneys General on "Producer Protection Act"

This session focused on agricultural contracting and model legislation recently introduced by a coalition of 16 state attorneys general. Members considered two proposed policies: Contract Protections for Producers in Vertically Integrated Systems and Temporary Suspension of Regulatory Approval of Further Mergers of Large Meatpacking Companies. The policy regarding contract protections was subsequently renamed and adopted unanimously by the committee as Unfair Marketing Practices; the other policy was defeated.

Today's Family Farm, Tomorrow's Concentrated
Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO)?
Joint Session with AFI Environment Committee and ASI Science, Energy & Environmental Resources Committee

Presiding:	Representative Bill Friend, Indiana, NCSL Agriculture and International Trade Committee Chair
Speakers:	Sheila Frace, Deputy Director, Office of Science and Technology, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); George Utting, Chief, Rural Branch, Office of Wastewater Management, U.S. EPA
Handouts:	Confined Animal Production Poses Manure Management Problems; Environmental Regulation & Location of Hog Production

During this session, the committees discussed new federal rules for animal feeding operations. Members adopted an updated version of existing CAFO policy.

1974, 1979, 2000? International Oil Prices and the States
Joint Session with the AFI Energy and Transportation Committee

Presiding:	Representative Philip Prelli, Connecticut, NCSL Agriculture and International Trade Committee Vice-Chair
Speaker:	John Felmy, Director of Policy Analysis and Statistics Department, American Petroleum Institute
Handout:	World Oil Markets

The international trends causing high fuel prices and possible prescriptions served as the focus of this session.

This May Not be Your Father's Hemp but Will it be Your State's?

Presiding:	Representative Maxine Bell, Idaho, NCSL Agriculture and International Trade Committee Vice-Chair
Speakers:	John Howell, President, Hempwell Inc.; Robert Maginnis, Vice President for National Security and Foreign Policy, Family Research Council
Handouts:	Bad Medicine and Drug Legalization: A 2000 Update; Hemp Country; Industrial Hemp in the United States: Status and Market Potential; State Legislative Action for the Development of a Hemp Industry in the U.S.

During this session, the committee heard differing viewpoints regarding the potential of industrial hemp as an alternative crop. Members adopted a new policy supporting more flexible federal policy regarding the cultivation and marketing of this product.

Food Labeling in a Biotechnology World
Joint Session with ASI Science, Energy and Environmental Resources Committee

Presiding:	Representative Philip Prelli, Connecticut, NCSL Agriculture and International Trade Committee Vice-Chair
Speakers:	Benjamin Cohen, Senior Staff Attorney, Center for Science in the Public Interest; Susan Stout, Vice President of Federal Affairs, Grocery Manufacturers of America
Handouts:	National Food Labeling Bill Snuck Into Funding Bill, Environmental Group Says; National Uniformity for Food Bill Takes a Big Step Forward; Senate Committee Approves Bill That Could Void State Food Safety Laws

This session focused on S. 1155, the National Uniformity for Food Act of 2000, and its potential impact on state food labeling laws.

The next meeting of the AFI Agriculture and International Trade committee will be May 10-12, 2001 at the NCSL AFI Spring Meeting in Washington, D.C. Please plan to join us!

NCSL staff contacts: David Naftzger, Steve Smith

NCSL Agriculture and International Trade Committee

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AFI Agriculture & International Trade Committee December 13-15, 2000 NCSL AFI/ASI Joint Winter Meeting Summary

AFI Agriculture & International Trade Committee
December 13-15, 2000
NCSL AFI/ASI Joint Winter Meeting Summary