68 



13 



Trade policy negotiations 



Our trade policy workload will not relax. Implementation of the NAFTA and 

 GATT agreements, as well as work on bilateral issues, are high priorities. But we also 

 are exploring the idea of developing country lists, targeting key trade barriers to tackle 

 bilaterally in key markets. This approach would be an integral part of the country 

 strategies that I mentioned earlier. Future multilateral negotiations will remain at the 

 fore, and talks with China, Vietnam, and others who hope to join the GATT trading 

 system will be key. 



Technical assistance 



Currently, our technical assistance efforts are carried out under the authority of 

 the Emerging Democracies program. We believe this will likely need to be broadened to 

 be an Emerging Markets Program, given changes since enactment of the Food, 

 Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990. Another option we are analyzing is 

 the development of a strict technical assistance program in areas of USDA expertise 

 where there is not an immediate market benefit as required by the Emerging 

 Democracies program, but where longer-term benefits to U.S. agriculture may exist. 

 Such an authority would need to be clearly differentiated from the Agency for 

 International Development (A.I.D) authority by clearly targeting activities where USDA 

 or its contacts have the predominant expertise. 



Conclusion 



Mr. Chairman, as you can see, our review is thorough and our goals are 

 ambitious. Some may question whether we are being too ambitious in today's budget 



