Posted May 23, 2014
The Senate Finance Committee has unanimously confirmed
Darci Vetter as Chief Agricultural Negotiator for the Office of the United
States Trade Representative (USTR), according to an article by Farm Futures
available here. Vetter’s nomination will now move to the full
Senate.
Vetter is a native of Nebraska and is currently Deputy
Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services at the USDA. Her previous roles with the USTR office
include Director for Agricultural Affairs from 2005 to 2007 and Director for
Sustainable Development from 2001 to 2005.
Agricultural trade interests are currently focused on
the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Transatlantic Trade and Investment
Partnership (T-TIP) negotiations. A
recent post from this blog on the TPP negotiations is available here.
American Soybean Association President Ray Gaesser
said, “The job for which Ms. Vetter was confirmed today is to ensure that the
success of the partnerships between American agriculture and our foreign
customers continues to grow and strengthen…Ms. Vetter’s knowledge and
experience, not only of international trade but also the specific needs of our
industry, are extremely powerful assets.”
Vetter’s remarks are available here. She said, “I am committed to advancing our
ongoing negotiations – TPP and T-TIP – where we are pursuing high-standard
trade agreements that will create significant new market access opportunities
for U.S. agriculture. Eliminating
tariffs and unwarranted SPS and TBR barriers on agricultural products will
ensure our agricultural producers can continue to export high-quality, safe
American food and agricultural products.”
For more information on international trade, please
visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
