Washington D.C., San Francisco, CA (November 4, 2009) – The National Family Farm Coalition and Pesticide Action Network North America expressed disappointment today with Islam Siddiqui’s testimony and answers during the Senate Finance Committee hearing on his nomination to become the next USTR Chief Agriculture Negotiator. When questioned about his background as a former pesticide lobbyist for Croplife America, whose members include Monsanto, Syngenta and Dow, Siddiqui claimed he personally had never shown antagonism towards sustainable agriculture and pledged to work with all stakeholders. Siddiqui’s statements, as both a USDA official and as a CropLife America lobbyist, clearly showed his bias for chemical-intensive agriculture over the concerns of consumers and environmentalists.

* Siddiqui in 2003 made the incendiary statement that the European Union’s moratorium on genetically modified organisms had resulted in “denying food to starving people.” Siddiqui criticized the use of the precautionary principle in regulating GMOs in hindering international trade. [Delta Farm Press, 5/23/03]

* As a USDA official in charge of overseeing the first proposed organic standard in 1998, Siddiqui admitted USDA had overruled the stances of the National Organic Standards Board by proposing that GMOs, toxic sludge and irradiated food be allowed “organic” status. Siddiqui had cited the concern that banning GMOs in organics in the United States would be “inconsistent” with the position of U.S. trade negotiators in forcing the European Union to accept GMOs. Only after 230,000 consumer comments flooded USDA were the organic standards strengthened. [Food & Drink Weekly, 1/19/98]

Dr. Marcia Ishii-Eiteman, Senior Scientist at Pesticide Action Network North America, noted that Siddiqui also failed to say if he agrees or not with his former employers’ aggressive lobbying to weaken international regulations over toxic pesticides, expand allowances for pesticide testing on children and keep persistent and acutely toxic pesticides such as endosulfan on the market, despite a global movement towards a ban. “Siddiqui is trying to sidestep his association with CropLife America, but to our knowledge, he has not yet disassociated himself from the extremely harmful positions that his employer has taken that put corporate profits ahead of public health,” Ishii-Eiteman said. She added, “We also thank Senator Ron Wyden for questioning Siddiqui on his views of organic and sustainable farming. Siddiqui’s reply that he welcomes all kinds of agriculture glosses over the fact that so long as we continue to push global markets to support our failed chemical-intensive industrial model of agriculture, we will never truly transition to the ecologically sound, clean and healthy farming that the planet needs.”

The National Family Farm Coalition expressed concern for Siddiqui pushing a globalized free trade model for agriculture that has devastated both family farmers and ranchers here in the U.S. and in foreign countries. Katherine Ozer, Executive Director of NFFC, noted that it’s not farmers who face “nontariff barriers” and “market access” issues, but agribusinesses that do the exporting. “The assumption that what’s good for Monsanto, Cargill and Smithfield is what’s good for America’s farmers are falsehoods put out by agribusinesses seeking to dump U.S. commodities into foreign markets, driving their farmers off the land and imposing our flawed industrial agriculture model on the rest of the world,” said Ozer. “As the global food crisis worsens, we must respect food sovereignty principles that allow countries to regulate agriculture and food policy in the public interest. We remain unconvinced that Siddiqui will place the well-being of farmers, farmworkers and communities around the world ahead of the chemical pesticide and biotech industry’s interests.”

An unprecedented coalition of diverse groups has come together to protest the Siddiqui nomination. The coalition includes Pesticide Action Network, National Family Farm Coalition, Center for Food Safety, Farmworker Association of Florida, Food and Water Watch, Food Democracy Now!, Greenpeace, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy and Organic Consumers Association. Over 80 groups signed a letter to the Senate Finance Committee opposing Siddiqui’s nomination. A petition circulated by CREDO Action, Food Democracy Now!, Pesticide Action Network, Organic Consumers Association and Grassroots International has now generated over 60,000 signatures.