PHIL HARDENBERGER: My name is Phil Hardenberger. I'm a pork producer, veterinarian, and past President of the Nebraska Pork Producers Association. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for allowing me to present a few thoughts about Nebraska agriculture and the great importance to producers, the impact of the WTO conference in Seattle will have on all of agriculture.

The Nebraska Pork Producers Association has always been a supporter of world trade and free and fair trading system. Nebraska's continued production of high quality pork is dependent upon the projected growth of the export market. The independent producer will continue to be a vital force in Nebraska's economy and if and only if we can find a way to share in those profits. Then we will reap the benefits in years to come.

It is estimated that the U.S. pork producers are poised to overtake the EU as the world's largest leader in pork exports. Ten years ago the U.S. was the world's second largest importer of pork. Today it is the world's largest exporter of pork. Within the next decade, the U.S. is expected to become the world's largest pork exporting country. Forecasters expect a 36 to 45 percent growth in world pork trade in the next decade. And this will only happen if we have fair and equitable trade policies.

We need to lower trade barriers through trade agreements. While our export performance is impressive, it nevertheless remains severely limited by factors such as the lack of access to many of the world's pork markets and unfair subsidies provided to many other competitors.

True liberalization of ag trade will require another negotiation, another cycle of significant cuts. The Nebraska pork industry strongly supports further trade liberalization measurements because such measures will permit the industry to exploit this competitive -- comparative advantage in international markets.

The renewal of trade authority should be a high legislative priority for both Congress and the administration. We urge Congress and the administration to work together in a bipartisan manner to get traditional trade negotiating authority renewed before the upcoming WTO meeting in Seattle. Without renewal of traditional trade negotiation authority, it will be difficult to make serious progress in the WTO trade negotiations. For our negotiators to have credibility at the bargaining table, this administration must have the fast-track authority as many other people have mentioned.

Other countries will not make concessions for fear that Congress will cause the administration to make changes in any agreements they bring back.

Tariff reductions must be accelerated. Notwithstanding the progress made in the Uruguay Round, tariffs on ag products remain very high. The accelerated reduction of tariffs is the pork industry's number one priority in the upcoming trade round. U.S. ag tariffs which average only about five percent as you've shown earlier are dwarfed by the agricultural tariffs of other nations which average as much as 50 percent. For some products tariffs of over 200 percent remain in effect. Ag tariffs must be lowered from these high levels on an accelerated basis. A substantial reduction in the highest tariffs would help to end practices such as price bands in which high bound tariffs create a cushion that allows lower applied tariffs to be adjusted frequently in order to keep domestic prices within a specified range.

Further, a date needs to be set with which all of these tariffs would be reduced to zero. Export subsidies should be eliminated. Export subsidies remain a major problem for U.S. agriculture. The elimination of export subsidies is a top priority for the U.S. pork industry in the upcoming negotiations.

Export subsidies transfer market share away from U.S. pork producers, the world's lowest cost producers of pork and give it to the EU and other less efficient pork producers. U.S. pork exports to Japan have increased under the pork import regime negotiated with Japan and Uruguay Round. However, U.S. pork exports would explode if Japan's market is liberalized further in the upcoming trade round.

Greater market access in Japan is again a number one priority of the U.S. pork industry in the next round, keeping in mind that the next step in our priorities would be bringing China into the WTO.

Thank you.