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WASHINGTON - Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa today is sending a letter to the Food and Drug Administration to gather information and gain a better understanding about how the United States treats biotechnology imports from other countries.

After contacting five different federal agencies and several trade groups to get more information about U.S. policy for biotech imports for food or feed grains, Grassley said that it appears nobody has a grasp on the policy.

Grassley said that as the number of biotech crops continues to rise, it will be even more important that there is a clear U.S. policy in regards to imports of biotech food and grain products, especially as the United States works with its partners around the world on policies to eliminate trade barriers for these products.

In a letter to Food and Drug Administration Acting Commissioner Stephen Ostroff, Grassley wrote, "Biotechnology offers the world great promise, however we must have a predictable, transparent and science based regulatory framework throughout the world to limit economic disruptions from the trade of genetically modified food and grain."

According to a Congressional Research Service report, 420 million acres were planted to biotech crops across the globe in 2012.  These crops range from corn and soybeans to sweet peppers and tomatoes.  Zero tolerance policies can lead to entire ships of product being rejected in foreign ports because of "small amounts of dust" that include traces of biotech traits.  The dust that tested positive for a specific trait may not even be from the current shipment, but under a zero tolerance policy it does not matter.

A copy of the text of Grassley's letter to Ostroff is below.  A signed copy of the letter can be found here.

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

WASHINGTON - Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Sen. John Thune of South Dakota today introduced comprehensive legislation to improve customer service at the IRS, create new taxpayer protections, and update and strengthen existing taxpayer protections.  The Taxpayer Bill of Rights Enhancement Act of 2015 comes amid gross mismanagement and inappropriate actions by IRS employees that have shaken what little confidence taxpayers may have had in the agency.

"The IRS has never been anyone's favorite agency," Grassley said.  "But it shouldn't repel and mistreat the people it exists to serve.  The IRS' level of customer service might be at all-time low.  Taxpayers are at a disadvantage with an agency that has tremendous power over their money.  The IRS might talk about good customer service.  Too often, talk is all there is.  The IRS needs to walk the walk.  Congress needs to act.  This bill will help swing the pendulum away from agency self-preservation and back to taxpayer service."

"This bill is intended to enact a much-needed culture change at the IRS, an agency whose reputation and trustworthiness has severely deteriorated with the American people over the last several years," said Thune. "No American should have to fear that politics could play a role in their confidential tax information being disclosed to a third party?, that they will be targeted based on their political beliefs, or that the IRS would not properly retain its employees' emails. This bill takes an important step toward restoring this agency to one that the American people both expect and deserve."

The bill is necessary to ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect taxpayer rights by preventing IRS abuses, Grassley and Thune said.  Among other provisions, the legislation:

•    Significantly increases civil damages and criminal penalties for the unauthorized disclosure or inspection of tax return information and significantly increases civil damages for improper IRS collection activities.

•    Imposes an affirmative duty on the commissioner of the IRS to ensure that IRS employees are familiar with and act in accordance with all taxpayer protections.

•    Updates the "10 deadly sins" established by the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, those actions by IRS employees that require mandatory termination, to include official actions taken for political purposes.

•    Permits the Treasury Department to provide status updates, and in certain instances require status updates, regarding investigations into misconduct by IRS employees -- or in some circumstances third parties - to taxpayers who are the subject of the misconduct.

•    Puts the bite back into a provision, recently called a "toothless tiger" by Tax Notes, that permits taxpayers to bring a cause of action against the IRS for unauthorized collections actions.

•    Extends the declaratory judgment remedy currently available to 501(c)3 to other 501(c) groups, including 501(c)(4) social welfare organizations, in instances where the IRS fails to act on an application in a timely manner or makes a negative determination as to their tax-exempt status.

•    Prohibits IRS officers and employees from using personal email accounts to conduct official business.

•    Provides additional authority concerning the use of taxpayer information to the IRS for the purpose of locating taxpayers due a tax refund.

•    Requires tax-exempt organizations to file Form 990 electronically and mandates that the IRS make such information available in a timely manner.

•    Imposes new requirements on the IRS with respect to email retention consistent with the existing directive from the Office of Management and Budget and the National Archives.

Grassley is former chairman of the Finance Committee, with jurisdiction over the IRS.  Grassley championed the 1988, 1996 and 1998 taxpayer rights laws currently on the books.  Grassley and Thune serve together on the Finance Committee and are joining forces to make the right to quality service a high priority at the IRS.

The bill contains some provisions passed by the House of Representatives in April and additional provisions to address shortcomings that have come to light since the last taxpayer rights bill.

A section-by-section summary of the bill, S. 1578, is available here.  The bill text is available here.  Video of the news conference is available here.

ST. LOUIS (June 16, 2015) - Trans fats have been an active part of the soy industry's vernacular for decades. And, for the past decade, the industry - including the farmers who grow soybeans - have been working on solutions to meet food-customer needs for a stable oil without partial hydrogenation, which causes trans fats.

The FDA's recent announcement to phase out partially hydrogenated vegetable oils did not come as a shock to soybean farmers. In fact, the United Soybean Board (USB) has been working with industry on two replacement options for partially hydrogenated soybean oil for more than 10 years. And now, those solutions are coming to the forefront.

"The soy industry estimates that 2 billion pounds of partially hydrogenated soybean oil are used in food today," says Jimmy Sneed, a soybean farmer from Hernando, Mississippi and USB farmer-leader. "We're excited to bring solutions like high oleic and interesterified soybean oil to the market and ready to shift the discussion to innovation."  

High oleic soybeans produce an oil that food companies can use for stability without the need for partial hydrogenation. Farmers currently grow high oleic soybeans in nine states, with more acreage being added each year.

Commodity soybean farmers can help with the solution, as well. By interesterifying commodity soybean oil, processors produce a hard fat, similar to the consistency of margarine, which helps meet needs for some baking customers.

"The U.S. food industry continues to be an important customer to soybean farmers and the entire soybean industry," adds Sneed. "High oleic soybeans and interesterified soybean oil are solutions brought online to help food companies maintain the taste consumers prefer, while using a domestically sourced, sustainable oil."

The FDA has been considering removing the Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status of partially hydrogenated oils since late 2013. After an open comment period in 2014, it announced this week intentions to phase out partially hydrogenated oils over the next three years.

Farmers interested in helping bring the solutions to the market sooner through high oleic soybeans should talk to their local seed or processing representative, or visit soyinnovation.com.

The 70 farmer-directors of USB oversee the investments of the soy checkoff to maximize profit opportunities for all U.S. soybean farmers. These volunteers invest and leverage checkoff funds to increase the value of U.S. soybean meal and oil, to ensure U.S. soybean farmers and their customers have the freedom and infrastructure to operate, and to meet the needs of U.S. soy's customers. As stipulated in the federal Soybean Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Act, the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service has oversight responsibilities for USB and the soy checkoff.

For more information on the United Soybean Board, visit www.unitedsoybean.org
Visit us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/UnitedSoybeanBoard
Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/unitedsoy
View our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/user/UnitedSoybeanBoard

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