53 



told it was high humidity in a drought condition; and does that 

 ring a bell? Does that sound accurate? 



Mr. Wessel. I think you just described, Mr. Emerson, the condi- 

 tions that are conducive to aflatoxin. But I think I would add that 

 following the drought, then you suddenly are confronted with some 

 heavy rainfall. You need the moisture. High humidity, in some 

 cases, could be sufficient. But I think the heavy rainfall usually 

 guarantees it. 



Mr. Emerson. This is the problem that is now occurring. But 

 when it first came upon us, we hadn't had any rainfall. We were 

 having the flood, but we hadn't had any rainfall. 



Mr. Wessel. But the area involving the aflatoxin contamination 

 of corn was not associated with the flood. 



Mr. Emerson. That is correct. 



Mr. Wessel. But the drought with the high humidity certainly 

 produced conditions that are ripe for the mold growth and then fol- 

 lowed by aflatoxin production. You must have the mold first, and 

 this is what usually the mold thrives on, the drought and when the 

 corn is under stress is the way we normally describe it. 



Mr. Emerson. Thank you very much. 



Mr. Johnson. Mr. Peterson. 



Mr. Peterson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 



Mr. Wessel, were you here last week when we were talking about 

 this amendment of mine? 



Mr. Wessel. No, sir. But several members of the panel were. 



Mr. Peterson. I just want to get this clarified. You evidently 

 have the authority to test for this vomitoxin. 



Mr. Wessel. That is correct. 



Mr. Peterson. But the way it works, in fact, is the Grain Inspec- 

 tion Service tests and you accept their test, once you set the levels. 

 Is that how it actually works? 



Mr. Wessel. Again, it depends. We do engage in our own direct 

 sampling and testing of grains — wheat, barley, com, and so forth. 



Mr. Peterson. How does that work? 



Mr. Wessel. We have field investigators located throughout the 

 country. We have a number of district offices where we do have 

 both the investigator as well as the laboratory capability. And as 

 part of their normal duties, they can collect samples of any type of 

 food product for analysis by one of our laboratories. 



And we do have the capability to analyze for a variety of myco- 

 toxins. We also have, as I mentioned earlier, a working agreement 

 with the Federal Grain Inspection Service. And recently, under the 

 terms of that agreement, FGIS did provide us with some random 

 samples that they had been collecting throughout the country for 

 testing specifically for vomitoxin. 



Mr. Peterson. Well, what we are trying to accomplish was to set 

 up some process whereby the grain coming into this country would 

 be tested for vomitoxin. 



And the question became, if we did that, are we going to cause 

 you to have to take on some duties that you maybe can't perform 

 or you don't have the people; or how are we going to get these folks 

 up to the border and so forth. 



So what I need to find out is: Do you folks have any problem 

 with the Grain Inspection Service people testing at the border. 



