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4 

 Mr. Chairman, the NGFA previously has testified to Congress concerning our 

 industry's response in complying with these legal mandates and explaining our industry's 

 actions and strategies to address aflatoxin. These comments still are relevant today, and I 

 would like to submit a copy of that testimony, presented before the House Agriculture 

 Committee's Subcommittee on Wheat, Soybeans, and Feed Grains on April 4, 1989, for the 

 record. 



Our Association also is active in providing information to our members regarding 

 regulatory and statutory obligations concerning mycotoxins that affect grain-handling 

 practices. We monitor research and new grain-handling techniques whose goal is to reduce 

 the incidence of this naturally occurring contaminant. We maintain a close and ongoing 

 dialogue with processors concerning aflatoxin so that our members can continue to provide 

 the quality of grain these companies demand. And we have been an active participant in the 

 ongoing discussions within the U.N.'s Codex Alimentarius Commission's concerning 

 peimitted levels of aflatoxin in com in international trade. 



Concerning the 1993-crop situation, our members report that it does not appear that 

 the necessary weather conditions were present to cause an appreciable aflatoxin problem in 

 the Com Belt, where the vast majority of U.S. com is produced. This assessment is similar 

 to that made by the Multi-Crop Aflatoxin Working Group, an alliance of producers, 

 processors and marketers of various commodities that was formed several years ago to seek 

 scientifically based solutions to problems caused by the natural contamination of crops with 

 aflatoxin. Mr. Chairman, we have been asked to submit a brief statement from the Multi- 

 Crop Aflatoxin Working Group for the record. 



In those scattered areas where weather conditions have led to the occurrence of 

 aflatoxin — as well as in geographic regions where local climates make aflatoxin a more 

 conunon occurrence - producers and country elevators actually begin working together to 

 identify and quantify the extent of the problem while the com is still on the stalk. University 



