Thank you, sir. Our last scheduled speaker for this morning unless Bob Metz is in the room is Mark Mosio of the Multinational Strategic Marketing.

MR. MOSIO:

Thank you. I do not participate in the dairy sector directly in international trade. However, I do share many of Mr. Livingston’s sentiments and having lived for 20 years in Europe, mostly in France, I have seen what the family farm and how supporting the family farm can maintain a structure -- economic structure and cultural structure at the local level and regional levels that support family values, principles, whether it be Christian or otherwise. And I would wish that members of the Board there would consider that. Multinational Strategic Marketing is just a small company firm working in the agricultural trade sector. Being small I can oblige to specialize in organic farming -- organic trade, rather, of agriculture products. I’m also committed and my company is committed to environmental sustainability and that’s a policy which one rarely hears in international trade. Granted, trade in organic agriculture at present represents a very significant portion of overall agricultural trade. However, the organic sector is growing at nearly 20 percent a year. And you can very well imagine how difficult it is to market overseas agriculture products from the United States when you want to label them organic. Most overseas, especially in Europe, they’re quite skeptical of what -- what is labeled organic and there are lots of incidences of problems in that area. I have three requests. First, that the use of GMOs not be allowed to endanger the production and shipment of organic foods. Second, that negotiations be carried out not to weaken labeling laws overseas but to strengthen them, and not only overseas but here in the United States strengthen them with respect to genetically modified organisms in our foods in addition to the use of radiation. Also, the use of sound science should include all pertinent scientific research and nothing should be hidden from the public in that respect.

I believe I have a few more minutes. I’d like to respond to Alan Roebke’s statement which I found very interesting. He denounces exploitation by large corporations. I’d like to mention that most of these large corporations are global; they work and operate, they buy and sell in foreign countries. They’re not just U.S. corporations that support the U.S. farmer. If they feel they can make a profit elsewhere otherwise, they will buy elsewhere and otherwise whether they are buying soybeans in Brazil or wherever or barley in Canada and selling it to Europe. They’ll do that. Also, he mentioned that modern technology should apply to organic -- should be applied to agriculture and used by U.S. farmers to feed the world. I say if this modern technology were used in organic agriculture, that is to say the same amount of investment, you would feed the world safely. And genetically modified organisms has not yet been proven to be safe. Thank you very much.

MS. KINNEY:

Thank you. Mr. Mosio, if you would step back to the podium for a moment.

PANEL MEMBER:

I was interested in the statement you made about sound science needing to include all science. Would you expand a little bit on that?

MR. MOSIO:

Just -- it’s maybe hearsay, I can’t document anything in particular, but it’s been discovered by foreign sciences and research being done in legal systems that there’s been some hidden research that has not been divulged, whether it be with respect to bovine growth hormones or otherwise. All research done by the manufacturers should be made public. That’s what I was referring to.

PANEL MEMBER:

I guess I’d just like to sort of make a comment on that statement. As a bureaucrat, you know, one of those terrible kind of animals, we often hear that somehow we’re hiding things or doing something and I -- and I really find that sort of hard to -- to take or to believe. Our first concern on the issues that we’re discussing like GMOs or whatever is the health and safety of the American public. I mean that’s what we -- we have no interest in harming the health and safety of the American public. And -- and certainly the U.S. government I believe, and I think it’s true, would be the first to point to any evidence or any sound science that demonstrates that beef hormones or GMO "X" is a health hazard. And so I think this kind of conspiracy theory that something is being hidden is simply not right. I certainly share, however, I guess your bottom line that we need to hear, and we should hear all of the differing opinions, then scientists should make scientific judgments on those opinions and tell the American people, and indeed the world population, what it is they found.

MR. MOSIO:

Can I address that? I wasn’t necessarily referring to maybe your organization as hiding anything in particular, but I do know that the USDA and everybody, I mean, this is a global world, a global economy. If someone in some other country might be getting sick because of the U.S. produced products, whether it be DDT or genetically modified organisms or tobacco, all that should be taken in consideration. You’re not about to tell me that a lot of tobacco research has not been hidden by the manufacturers and the traders and the sellers in those companies. Thank you.