Department of Agriculture Appropriations for 1964

So we have our struggle within our own Government under all administrations to maintain a proper place for American agriculture and the governmental determinations in our overall policy.

So we would be glad to have you go into this matter rather thoroughly, Mr. Ioanes. I want to find out just how this thing works before we get through. I am going to call on Mr. LeRoux later to tell his side.

Mr. IOANES. Fine. Let me comment first, Mr. Chairman, on this question of the Assistant Secretary in the international area.

It seems to me that one of the important factors in it is the recognition that the foreign trade of the United States, whether it comes into the country or goes out, is a major matter of concern, of interest to the Department and to American agriculture.

Specifically when we go into negotiations in Geneva, it is awfully good for us to have an Assistant Secretary present at those negotiations to show that American agriculture has a senior official available and interested in the subject. It is also important when we meet at the round table in interdepartmental discussions in this city that we be able to have a man there who ranks with the officials of other departments, all of whom have Assistant Secretaries for international

matters.

It seems to me this move corrects that deficiency and certainly as far as we are concerned it ought to help us get our job done in a more effective way and we certainly welcome that.

Now, with respect to our agency and what it does and how it has grown, I have been in it now about 8 or 9 years and I recall that the principal job we had at that time, 8 or 9 years ago, was that of reporting. Essentially at that time our job was to report the facts and the forecasts on what was going on abroad with respect to the agriculture of the other countries. Not entirely, but that was the essential job.

Since that time a number of large new activities have been taken on. One of those is the market development program which has grown from a small program, involving a few thousand dollars a year, to one that involves a large sum of money every year. And I am not going into detail about what we think we have accomplished with this program but it is impossible to take on a large new activity without building staff to manage it.

REPRESENTATION IN NEW COUNTRIES

Secondly, we have become interested in new countries of the world. As we have gotten new lineups in the world, we have found it necessary to staff some of those areas with attachés, in some cases, and assistants in others, to improve our coverage abroad. And I would be less than frank to tell you that we have completed this process. We have not. There are many areas of the world, and if you will permit me to, I would like to show you a map to indicate the coverage that we now have and the gaps that exist in our coverage and the part of the world that isn't covered at all.

There are a number of places in the world today which are important from the standpoint of competition or are important with ot opportunities which we do not cover

properly. Let me show you the northern African area for the moment-Algeria, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia. This is an area in the world which exports grain, which on occasion exports oils, which on occasion exports fruit products, but in total it gives us a great deal of competition.

We have one man stationed at Rabat and we try to get him to cover that whole area. We know that it would improve our own position in world affairs, particularly in our own export markets, if we knew more of what was going on in those countries. This illustrates the side of the coin that we call competition, knowing what the opposition is doing, knowing what your competitors are doing.

Then, going to the top of the map, you notice we don't have coverage in Norway. We handle Norway by an occasional visit from the attaché in Denmark. As I recall, Norway is now a market for us to the extent of about $30 million a year and we think that the market could be expanded. We think it is a mistake that we don't have a man in that country.

Another factor I would like to mention is that certain brandnew functions have been transferred to the agency in the last 2 years. These include the sales manager. These include the barter activity. So you have an apparent increase in the agency which reflects a transfer into it of additional functions.

I would take it you would hear this rationalization from any witness who would come from an agency concerned with international trade. We must deal with newer and changing situations, it seems to me, to a greater extent each year than the year before. I showed you the large land map area in Africa. In days past in order to deal with those countries we went to London or Paris or Brussels. We have had changes within 12 to 24 months where new seats of governments are established for 25 or 30 countries, and whereas all information came from 3 particular capitals in the past, we must now develop data, we must develop relationships with 25 or 30 new capital areas.

We have had this tremendous multiplication of new countries in the world where the foreign relations are handled by the countries themselves instead of by the European powers.

We have a particular interest in that part of the world. One of the big areas that we cover with one man out of Léopoldville is a major exporter of tropical products, oils, and oilseeds and cotton. It is an area, as I recall, about half the size of the United States.

Our man does the best job that he can to cover what is happening to their crops, whether disturbances are going to permit the commodity to come out into world markets or not, but as we move ahead, we would like very much to have an assistant who could share some of the traveling with him.

REGIONALISM

The final factor I would like to mention is that we face also a new dimension in world trade affairs which is regionalism. It is one thing to deal with the Germans on poultry and bring all your pressure to bear on the Germans as an individual sovereign nation. It is another matter to deal with an entity of nations grouped together as

So we have our struggle within our own Government under all administrations to maintain a proper place for American agriculture and the governmental determinations in our overall policy.

So we would be glad to have you go into this matter rather thoroughly, Mr. Ioanes. I want to find out just how this thing works before we get through. I am going to call on Mr. LeRoux later to tell his side.

Mr. IOANES. Fine. Let me comment first, Mr. Chairman, on this question of the Assistant Secretary in the international area.

It seems to me that one of the important factors in it is the recognition that the foreign trade of the United States, whether it comes into the country or goes out, is a major matter of concern, of interest to the Department and to American agriculture.

Specifically when we go into negotiations in Geneva, it is awfully good for us to have an Assistant Secretary present at those negotiations to show that American agriculture has a senior official available and interested in the subject. It is also important when we meet at the round table in interdepartmental discussions in this city that we be able to have a man there who ranks with the officials of other departments, all of whom have Assistant Secretaries for international matters.

It seems to me this move corrects that deficiency and certainly as far as we are concerned it ought to help us get our job done in a more effective way and we certainly welcome that.

Now, with respect to our agency and what it does and how it has grown, I have been in it now about 8 or 9 years and I recall that the principal job we had at that time, 8 or 9 years ago, was that of reporting. Essentially at that time our job was to report the facts and the forecasts on what was going on abroad with respect to the agriculture of the other countries. Not entirely, but that was the essential job.

Since that time a number of large new activities have been taken on. One of those is the market development program which has grown from a small program, involving a few thousand dollars a year, to one that involves a large sum of money every year. And I am not going into detail about what we think we have accomplished with this program but it is impossible to take on a large new activity without building staff to manage it.

REPRESENTATION IN NEW COUNTRIES

Secondly, we have become interested in new countries of the world. As we have gotten new lineups in the world, we have found it necessary to staff some of those areas with attachés, in some cases, and assistants in others, to improve our coverage abroad. And I would be less than frank to tell you that we have completed this process. We have not. There are many areas of the world, and if you will permit me to, I would like to show you a map to indicate the coverage that we now have and the gaps that exist in our coverage and the part of the world that isn't covered at all.

There are a number of places in the world today which are important from the standpoint of competition or are important with respect to export market opportunities which we do not cover