MR. LOOP: Ambassador Esselman, Dr. Siddiqui, Mr. Baas, it's great to have you all in Florida. Good morning. I am Carl Loop. I am President of Florida Farm Bureau, also the Vice-President of American Farm Bureau. Florida Farm Bureau is a statewide general farm organization that represents farmers in every county of Florida. Our members produce every commodity grown in Florida and are vitally concerned with the trade policy and its impact on them.

We certainly appreciate USTR and USDA for making the effort and taking the time to be here today and hear our industry's thoughts and concerns regarding trade.

First, I'd like to give you a little historical background on agriculture in Florida. We are more than sunshine and beaches and theme parks. Our state has approximately 15 million citizens and an additional 30 plus visitors every year, yet our agricultural economy is second only to tourism as an economic engine for our state.

This economic engine covers 240 various commodities with an economic impact of 6 billion dollars at the farm with almost a billion dollars paid to more than 91,000 farm employees. We enjoy an agricultural base of fresh and value added productions. We are proud that Florida ranked 9th in value of agricultural products sold in the 1997 year.

Eight of our counties are in the top 100 agricultural counties nationally, with Palm Beach County being number 11. All 8 of these counties are in the top 100 because of their production of import-sensitive crops, mainly sugar, vegetables and citrus.

It is also interesting to look at government payments to farmers. Florida is not in the top 20 states nor do any farm counties rank in the top 100 counties receiving government payments. This demonstrates that there are significant differences within the agricultural industry and that there is little, if any, opportunity or ability to correct public policy impacts on import-sensitive crops through government payments.

For this reason, agriculture needs the opportunity to negotiate specific treatment for specific problems rather than a one-size-fits-all. Florida agriculture urges that the request offer process be used as part of the upcoming negotiations.

In the case of Florida producers of fresh fruit and vegetables, there have been self-imposed market development costs for the domestic market. These self-imposed costs have not only developed the domestic market for our producers but have made that market attractive to foreign producers. Our government should fight to keep Florida producers in the domestic market just as surely as we fight to keep our domestic producers in foreign markets that we have developed. A market is a market and our domestic markets should not be sacrificed to gain foreign markets.

As we look at the cost of production and the comparative advantage of producers and production, we ask that the cost of regulation be considered including labor and environment. One estimate has been that a third of a farmer's cost is a result of regulatory programs. In the past, commitments were made but have not been lived up to in either federal or foreign policies or in trade agreements.

We continue to ask that an equitable dispute resolution process be established for perishable agricultural products. This process should consider seasonality, pricing, cost of production, import surges, with targets or triggers established through historical market access that would automatically begin a U.S. investigation.

Another area that must be addressed is the assumption that the least cost food producer will pass these savings on to consumers. This is a fallacy. The University of Florida just completed a study that showed that consumers paid more for imported fruits and vegetables than for domestic grown. We have watched NAFTA and the ensuing Mexico peso devaluation, the economic collapse in Asia and other financial internal policies impact with many of our trading partners. It appears to our members that there should be safeguards from an internal policy decision shift and distort trade.

Florida truly is a magnet for tourism and trade. We ask that sanitary and phytosanitary standards, SPS, not be sacrificed on the altar of market access. Sound science must be used and this way market access can be assured without the threat of new and invasive pests and the cost of eradication.

Government agencies need more resources focused on our borders as trade increases. Unfortunately, we continue to see trading partners that gain access to our markets but through false SPS complaints keep our products from their markets.

As we look at a new Round of trade negotiations we ask that all negotiations conclude together and that a set time be established at the conclusion of these negotiations, like the year 2002. A certain time frame will allow the industry to be more involved in keeping the process from dragging out for a long period of time. In an effort to expedite the process, we urge that our tariff schedules agreed to in the last Round be maintained and not subject to new negotiations. We also urge that before any more ratcheting down of tariffs occur, our trading partners shall equalize their tariffs with ours.

We urge the negotiators to work to ensure market access for biotechnology products produced from genetically modified organisms. We must impose discipline on state trading enterprises that distort the flow of trade in world markets.

In summary, trade is a two-way street. We don't need to sacrifice our domestic market to gain access to foreign markets. Our producers need effective, dispute resolution processes with import-sensitive crops when the regulatory cost is considered. Our producers can be competitive. As we talk about market development there is a need to recognize that the domestic market is one that has been developed by domestic brokers and they need continued access to that market. Our priority goal at the Seattle Round should be to identify a way to enforce compliance with existing agreements before moving to new commitments.

I appreciate the opportunity to be here. We're glad to have you in Florida. Commissioner, we appreciate all of your leadership and help in bringing this to Florida and all the other things you do for Florida agriculture. Thank you.

(Applause.)