Seed E-News

June 4, 2004

ASTA 121st Annual Convention
You can now register on-line for the Annual Convention in Philadelphia in June. To register, please follow this link Registration. Please note that, on May 21, registration fees for members and non-members increased. For more information about the Annual Convention, please see the links in Upcoming Events at the foot of the page.

ASTA Produce Industry Panel
Rod Stacey of Verdant Partners, LLC will be moderating a Produce Industry Panel at the ASTA Annual Convention in Philadelphia in June. There will be three panelists. The first panelist will look at the current marketplace for produce and what factors are driving consumer needs. He will also explain and give examples of what the retailers are doing to respond to these needs and what they in turn need from the grower/shippers and the genetics providers to do so. The second panelist will discuss the grower/shipper response to these demands and the third will deal with the seed industry response to these changes particularly the continuous need to shift towards more and more specialized products through genetics and other technology. Rod Stacey will then chair a Q&A session. He is encouraging the panelists to be candid in order to promote discussion

EU to Debate Two New GMO Approvals in June
Only a couple of weeks after approving Syngenta's Bt-11 maize, the European Union is set to consider approving two more GM products. If authorized, the two products — both marketed by ASTA member Monsanto — would be used in animal feed and industrial processing but not cultivated. For more, follow this link to Checkbiotech.org EU Debate.

Kenya Prepares to Grow GM Maize
A project is underway in Kenya to develop maize resistant to pests such as the stem borer which eats away 400,000 tonnes of maize — about 15% of farmers' annual harvests. The Insect Resistant Maize for Africa (IRMA) project uses Biotechnology to develop varieties of the crop that are resistant to insects, and in particular the stem borer. The IRMA project is a being jointly implemented by the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), which is funded by Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture. For more on this project, follow this link IRMA.

France OKs New GMO Field Trials
On June 1, 2004, the Frendh Government approved new field trials of GM crops detailing eight test sites that in the past have been the target for opponents to the new technology. The farm ministry said that the experiments, covering eight types of GMO maize and mostly in the south-west of the country, were part of its regular biotech research program and followed its first public consultation on the proposals via the Internet. To read more, follow this link French GM OK.

APHIS Workshop on "Confinement of Genetically Engineered Crops During Field Testing"
USDA-APHIS BRS is planning a workshop, to be held September 13-15, 2004 at their Riverdale, MD Headquarters, to focus on confinement issues relative to PMP and PMIPs in corn, barley, rice, safflower, tobacco, as well as cotton. Mark Condon of the ASTA staff has agreed to serve on the workshop Steering Committee which will provide opinions on the organization of the Workshop as well as potential speakers, questions for discussion and references for a bibliography etc. The five main topics to be covered by the workshop are:

• Introduction to confinement and the principle of redundancy presented by APHIS
• Setting of isolation standards by AOSCA, scale and quality control measures (monitoring)
• Confinement analysis critical control points (CACCP) and quality control/monitoring
• Modeling tools — Monitoring and sampling strategies to verify confinement (e.g., volunteers and geneflow)

To ensure that the seed industry has optimal participation in the workshop, ASTA members are encouraged to provide as soon as possible to Mark Condon at mcondon@amseed.org any recommendations for speakers, references, moderators, note takers, etc. More detailed information on this workshop will be provided to the ASTA membership in the coming months.

Comment Period extended on Proposal to exempt 100% Organic Producers from Research and Promotion Assessments
On May 25, 2004, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that it is extending the period in which to submit written comments on proposed changes to commodity research and promotion programs. Comments are now due to USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service by June 25, 2004. The original deadline for submitting written comments was May 26, 2004.

This proposal would exempt producers and marketers of solely 100 percent organic products from paying commodity promotion assessments.

The notice of the comment period extension will appear in the May 26 Federal Register. Details of the proposed exemption were published in the April 26 Federal Register. The proposed rule and public comments are available at www.ams.usda.gov/2002farmbill/organicexempt

The 2002 Farm Bill directed USDA to issue regulations exempting any person who produces and markets solely 100 percent organic products and who does not produce any conventional or non-organic products from paying assessments under a commodity promotion law.

Comments may be sent via mail to Angela C. Snyder, Office of the Deputy Administrator, Poultry Programs, Agricultural Marketing Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, STOP 0256, Room 3932 South, Washington, D.C. 20250 or via fax at (202) 720 5631. Comments should be submitted in duplicate. Comments may also be submitted by e-mail to organicassessmen@usda.gov or on-line at www.regulations.gov

USDA Seek Nominations to Fill Vacancies on National Organic Standards Board
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on March 8 that it is seeking nominations to fill five upcoming vacancies on the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB). Successful candidates will be appointed by Secretary of Agriculture Ann M. Veneman to serve a 5-year term of office commencing January 24, 2005, and terminating January 24, 2010. The NOSB is a 15-member board responsible for developing and recommending to the Secretary a proposed National List of Approved and Prohibited Substances. The NOSB also advises the Secretary on all other aspects of the National Organic Program.

USDA is asking for nominations to fill the following five upcoming NOSB vacancies: organic producer (two positions), organic handler, retailer, and environmentalist. To serve on the NOSB, an individual must be either an owner or operator of an organic production operation, an owner or operator of an organic handling operation, an individual who owns or operates a retail establishment with significant trade in organic products, or an individual with expertise in areas of environmental protection and resource conservation. USDA will follow equal opportunity practices in all appointments to the NOSB. Written nominations, accompanied by resumes, must be postmarked on or before June 14, 2004, and sent to:

Ms. Katherine E. Benham
Advisory Board Specialist, National Organic Program
USDA-AMS-TMP-NOP
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Room 4008-S, Ag Stop 0268
Washington, D.C. 20250

For more information, contact Ms. Katherine Benham on (202) 205-7806, by fax on (202) 205-7808 or by e-mail at katherine.benham@usda.gov. For more information on the National Organic Standards Board, check out the web site at www.ams.usda.gov/nosb.

World Conference on Organic Seed
On July 5-7, 2004, a conference for stakeholders in the organic seed sector will be held at the headquarters of the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome. Delegates are expected to include scientists, plant breeders, seed producers, farmers, certifiers, and others interested in organic farming and seed production. ASTA is represented on the conference organizing committee by Frederick 'Chip' Sundstrom of the California Crop Improvement Association. The conference is sponsored by the International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements (IFOAM), the FAO and the International Seed Federation. The focus of the conference will be on the scientific and technical aspects of organic seed issues and participants will also evaluate regulatory requirements. Registration information and a provisional program can be found by visiting www.organicseedconf.org.

Industry and People
If you have any personnel changes, or other developments in your company, that you would like included in E-News, please send details to ppatterson@amseed.org.

Upcoming Events

June 27-30, 2004
ASTA 121st Annual Convention
Wyndham Franklin Plaza
Philadelphia, PA
Follow this link for the Program of events. Follow this link for information on Speakers.

November 7-8, 2004
ASTA 50th Farm & Lawn Seed Conference
Westin Crown Center
Kansas City, MO

December 8-10, 2004
ASTA 34th Soybean & 59th Corn & Sorghum Conferences and Seed Expo 2004
Hyatt Regency Chicago
Chicago, IL
Tel: 1-888.890.7333

January 22-25, 2005
ASTA 44th Vegetable & Flower Conference
Grand Hyatt San Francisco
San Francisco, CA.

June 19-22, 2005
122nd ASTA Annual Convention
Sheraton Seattle Hotel and Tower
Seattle, WA

July 7-14, 2006
Joint ASTA-CSTA Annual Convention
Hyatt Regency Chicago
Chicago, IL