58 



Mr. Wessel. It is my understanding — and we have been in very 

 close contact with our Canadian counterparts, and according to the 

 information not only this year but in previous years — that we have 

 received from them is that all grain that Canada exports to the 

 United States is inspected before exportation. 



Mr. POMEROY. No, that is not the information that I believe to 

 be the case. I think there is uninspected Canadian grain that 

 comes into this country. And that is the thrust, really, of the legis- 

 lation introduced by Congressman Peterson and myself. 



I don't have a final question. I have a final comment. There were 

 two teams within FDA that studied the vomitoxin problems. One 

 of them was dealing with the veterinary 



Mr. Wessel. We have two centers that have responsibility in this 

 regard. One is the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. 

 Their primary responsibility is the human food aspects of the situa- 

 tion. 



And the other side is the Center for Veterinary Medicine which 

 has responsibility for the safety of the animal feeds. One has safety 

 responsibility for food; one has safety responsibilities for animal 

 feed. 



Mr. POMEROY. My discussion with the food safety people doing 

 the research in the Food Safety Division, left me with the impres- 

 sion that they would find helpful data that tracks what happens 

 to vomitoxin during the milling process. 



North Dakota State University, at my request, did an initial test; 

 and the results show that vomitoxin concentrations are dramati- 

 cally reduced in the subsequent flour that is produced. Vomitoxin 

 concentrations tend to grow in the by-product in the milling proc- 

 ess. 



We are now moving forward in developing a more substantial 

 test record at a pilot and commercial level of milling supporting 

 this conclusion. I think that supports the work of the food safety 

 team in removing vomitoxin maximum limits on the raw product 

 and rather concentrating on vomitoxin limits in the refined food 

 product. 



So, again, I am very favorably impressed with the work done by 

 FDA on the vomitoxin issue in the last month. 



Mr. Johnson. I want to thank this panel unless there are addi- 

 tional questions from any members of the subcommittee, I want to 

 thank members of this panel for your contribution to our hearing. 



And, again, your full statements and answers are on the record. 

 I want to thank you. 



The third panel consists of Mr. Roger Rix of South Dakota on be- 

 half of the National Association of Wheat Growers, Washington, 

 DC; Mr. Pete Kappes of Ada, Minnesota, representing the National 

 Association of Wheat Growers; Ms. Dixie Hendricks, who is a mem- 

 ber of the board of directors. National Family Farm Coalition, and 

 Dakota Rural Action of Corona, South Dakota; Mr. Larry Diedrich, 

 who is president of the American Soybean Association of Elkton, 

 South Dakota; and Mr. Robert Gebhards, Tarkio, Missouri, on be- 

 half of National Com Growers Association of Washington DC. 



If those individuals would come forward. Now, I appreciate that 

 everybody has busy schedules, but I know Mr. Diedrich in particu- 

 lar has an obligation coming up fairly soon. And if there are others 



