MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina, Brazil and the US form alliance of corn producers: Maizall

USGC President Tom Sleight: “we can speak with a more united voice as producers to the rest of the world”

Corn groups from the US, Argentina and Brazil signed a memorandum of understanding this week to form an international alliance of corn producers, collectively called MAIZALL.

The US National Corn Growers Association, ABRAMHILO (Brazil), MAIZAR (Argentina), and the US Grains Council, USGC (*), signed the agreement in Buenos Aires earlier this week.

Though the countries are competing in the marketplace, USGC President Tom Sleight said the agreement is a way to reach out to international customers and talk about modern agriculture, food security and the role of modern stewardship and technology.

“The main idea is to coordinate communications and speak with a more united voice as producers to the rest of the world,” Sleight explained.

According to Sleight, benefits to U.S. corn producers include finding solutions to biotech and phyto-sanitary trade barriers.

“When you have the major corn producing countries talking with a more united voice it adds the farmers' voice to the ongoing government to government negotiations, the industry negotiations,” Sleight said.

The formation of the group comes just a month after six countries – Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, the United States and Paraguay – signed an agreement to work together to limit agriculture technology barriers and promote science-based, transparent regulatory approaches.

After signing the MOU, MAIZALL partners met for two days to establish organizational details and meet with agricultural, scientific and government leaders. A tentative agreement was reached on the structure of the MAIZALL Board of Directors, officers, preliminary funding targets and next steps.

Over the next several weeks, the proposed organizational structure will be presented for approval to the Boards of the four participating organizations, USGC said.

“We are competitors” USGC Vice Chairman Julius Schaaf noted, “and we will remain competitors. But we grow the same crop, we serve the same customers, and we face the same problems on market access issues. We have a common interest in working together to open markets and improve food security around the world. That is the goal of MAIZALL.” (USGC).

(*) The U.S. Grains Council is a private, non-profit partnership of agribusinesses and producers committed to building and expanding international markets for U.S. barley, corn, sorghum and their products. The Council has nine international offices that oversee programs in more than 50 countries. Support for the Council comes from its producer and agribusiness members and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.