 |
|
NEWS STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Chuck Conner or Shannon Shoesmith August 3, 2001 CORN REFINERS WELCOME NAFTA PANEL RULING The Corn Refiners Association, Inc. (CRA) welcomed a long awaited NAFTA panel ruling that Mexican antidumping duties on U.S.-produced high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) are illegal. The NAFTA panel gave the Government of Mexico 90 days to terminate the antidumping order, which has been in effect since January of 1998. Charles F. Conner, President of the Corn Refiners Association, said, "The U.S. corn refining industry has patiently pursued the appropriate legal course of action with high regard for our international trade agreements and dispute settlement processes. The Government of Mexico has lost this case in the eyes of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and now it has lost under NAFTA. It is time for the Government of Mexico to acknowledge the inevitable and terminate the antidumping order." Mexico is the second largest consumer of soft drinks in the world. For many years, HFCS has been the sweetener of choice in the U.S. soft drink market. HFCS generates demand for over 550 million bushels of the U.S. corn crop. For more information on the corn refining industry, visit the Corn Capsules newsletter page. 
|