[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 20 (Monday, February 24, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1481-S1482]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                           TRIP TO SINGAPORE

 Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I rise today to report to the 
Senate on an official trip I took with a House Ways and Means Committee 
delegation in December 1996 to Hong Kong, Beijing, and Singapore. I was 
privileged to be the only United States Senator to serve as an official 
delegate to the first ministerial meeting of the World Trade 
Organization.
  The WTO was formed by the Uruguay Round Agreement, ratified by 
Congress in 1994, and is the successor to the General Agreements on 
Tariffs and Trade. It serves as a forum for multilateral trade 
negotiations and a dispute settlement body. The first ministerial was 
called to measure progress on the implementation of Uruguay round 
commitments and seek further liberalization in selected areas of trade. 
Although I discuss the various meetings of the delegation in Hong Kong 
and Beijing, this report will focus on our meetings in Singapore.


                        Friday, December 6, 1996

  Upon arriving in Hong Kong, the delegation met with U.S. Consul 
General Richard Boucher and several Hong Kong business and government 
officials. The primary topic of discussion was Hong Kong's transition 
to Chinese control on July 1, 1997.


                       Saturday, December 7, 1996

  On Saturday, the delegation met with representatives of the American 
Chamber of Commerce of Hong Kong. The upcoming transition was again 
discussed as was the annual debate in the Congress on China's most-
favored-nation status.


                        Monday, December 9, 1996

  On the first day of the ministerial, the delegation was briefed by 
Acting U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky and Federal 
Communications Commission Chairman Reed Hunt. Ms. Barshefsky stressed 
the importance of completing negotiations on the Information Technology 
Agreement while in Singapore. She believed that an agreement was 
imminent but sought our support when discussing the ITA with other 
countries, delegations.
  The delegation asked Ms. Barshefsky about the negotiations to bring 
China into the WTO. I stressed the need for China to open its markets 
for U.S. agricultural products and to reduce the authority of its state 
trading enterprises. Ms. Barshefsky stressed three points relating to 
China's entry into the WTO. First, China must remedy its bilateral 
problems with the United States, especially on agriculture and 
intellectual property rights. China must increase market access to U.S. 
agricultural exports. Finally, China must abide by the decisions and 
policies of a rules-based system, the WTO.
  Mr. Hunt briefed the delegation on the telecommunications 
negotiations. Mr. Hunt said that the focus in these talks will be on 
deregulation in order to open the global communications industry to 
foreign competition. Since the United States has one of the most open 
markets, our companies have the most to gain by liberalizing trade in 
this area.


                       Tuesday December 10, 1996

  On Tuesday morning, I broke from the delegation for breakfast with 
Deputy Secretary Richard Rominger and the Administrator of the Foreign 
Agriculture Service, Gus Schumacher, both with the United States 
Department of Agriculture. We discussed our current bilateral trade 
disputes with the European Union, primarily with Bt corn and the 
veterinary equivalency standards.
  At the time, the EU was deciding whether to accept Bt corn, a 
genetically modified organism, exported from the U.S. Failure to accept 
this product would have jeopardized all of our corn exports to Europe. 
Subsequent to the Singapore meeting, the EU decided to allow Bt corn 
into its markets.
  The second issue, unfortunately, has yet to be resolved. The EU has 
failed to certify most U.S. meat packing plants for export to Europe. 
This failure will jeopardize current exports, such as pet food, as well 
as potential sales of beef and pork. The issue was to be resolved in 
December but a decision has now been delayed until April.
  Because of the EU's actions, I have introduced a bill with the 
minority leader, Senator Daschle, to address the situation. S. 220 
requires the U.S. Trade Representative to determine whether the 
European Union's action violates any trade agreements, including the 
1992 meat agreement and the sanitary/phytosanitary provisions of the 
Uruguay Round Agreement. If agreements have been breached, USTR is 
required to take some action, which could include unilateral sanctions. 
I urge the European Union to remedy this situation before sanctions are 
necessary.
  I rejoined the delegation to meet with Singapore Minister of Trade 
and Industry Yeo Cheow Tong. The delegation thanked the minister for 
his nation's hospitality and leadership at the ministerial. We 
impressed upon him the need to consummate the Information Technology 
Agreement in order to make the ministerial a success. I urged Minister 
Yeo, in his leadership role at

[[Page S1482]]

the conference, to assist the United States in resolving the veterinary 
equivalency issue with the Europeans. This was appropriate because 
Singapore recognizes the equivalency of the United States meat 
inspection system as it transships United States meat to other Asian 
nations.
  We also met with the Canadian delegation. Talks focused on several 
bilateral issues with our two nations, including the recent NAFTA panel 
on dairy and poultry and the U.S. sugar program. I also asked the 
Canadians opinion on two issues: China's accession to the WTO and the 
dispute on veterinary equivalency between the United States and the EU. 
The Canadian delegation agreed fully with my position on China. 
Specifically, they said that WTO members should not lower entry 
standards for China and that market access and subsidy issue must be 
addressed before China is admitted.
  Regarding the veterinary equivalency issue, the Canadian delegation 
agreed that sanitary and phytosanitary provisions of trade agreements 
must be upheld in order to maintain the grassroots support of farmers 
for free trade agreements.
  On Tuesday, the delegation also met with delegations from Taiwan and 
the European Parliament, and had the opportunity to express our 
gratitude to the Prime Minister of Singapore for his nation's 
hospitality.
  The Taiwanese expressed their strong desire to join the WTO. Chairman 
Phil Crane, speaking for the delegation, agreed that Taiwan was close 
to meeting the requirements for joining the WTO. But he urged Taiwan to 
be patient while the United States worked through some of its problems 
with China. I cautioned the Taiwanese that further progress must be 
made on reducing barriers for agricultural products, such as beef, 
pork, and poultry. The leader of the Taiwan Parliament, Mr. Vincent 
Slew, responded that he did not ``see any problem'' with making the 
necessary agricultural reforms.
  The discussions with the European Parliamentary delegation focused on 
three issues: Bt corn, veterinary equivalency, and allowing China into 
the WTO. I raised questions about the EU's potentially keeping Bt corn 
and other genetically modified organisms from their markets. The 
European delegation argued that their citizens have an intense distrust 
of the scientific evidence and government policy because of the recent 
BSE--mad cow disease--crisis in Europe.
  They pointed out that 80 percent of their consumers are against 
bringing Bt corn into their country and they would consider keeping all 
U.S. corn out in order to protect their consumers. At least, the 
Europeans argued, they would require separation and labeling of Bt 
corn. As I stated earlier, this issue has since been resolved and Bt 
corn grown in the United States has been accepted in the European 
markets.
  The European delegation promised to look into the veterinary 
equivalency problem and thought we could make progress in certifying 
United States meat packing plants. On China, I argued that if the 
Europeans are truly concerned with their farmers, they should insist 
that China enter the WTO only on commercially meaningful terms. The 
European delegation agreed, saying that China must meet all 
requirements, including those on market access, before joining the WTO.


                      Wednesday, December 11, 1996

  On Wednesday, the delegation received a full briefing from acting 
USTR Charlene Barshefsky. She discussed the Statement on Agriculture, 
outstanding bilateral issues with the European Union, and China's 
desire to enter the WTO. I pointed out that the terms of China's 
accession will determine whether China becomes our largest export 
market for agriculture products or our toughest competitor. To 
emphasize the importance of agriculture to trade agreements, I also 
noted that one-half of the nongovernmental observers at the ministerial 
were from the agriculture sector.
  The delegation also met with United States Ambassador to Singapore, 
Mr. Chorba, and Singapore Foreign Minister Jayakumar. I asked Minister 
Jayakumar to help bring the other Asian nations on board with the 
Information Technology Agreement. The minister replied that they shared 
the United States interest in completing the ITA in Singapore and they 
would do what they can to accomplish that.


                      Thursday, December 12, 1996

  On Thursday, the delegation met with United States Assistant 
Secretary of State Alan Larson to discuss the recent trip of Secretary 
of State Christopher to China. This meeting was to prepare the 
delegation, for its meetings in Beijing.


                       Friday, December 13, 1996

  In Beijing, the delegation received a briefing from the United States 
Embassy on the Chinese economy and trade situation. Later that day we 
met with Vice Minister Sun Zhenyu, the American Chamber of Commerce, 
State Planning Commission Vice Chairman Gan Ziyu, and Vice Premier Zhu 
Ronghi, member of the standing committee. Several issues were discussed 
including trade relations between the two countries.

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