Indian American to represent US in farm trade talks
September 23rd, 2009 - 10:36 pm ICT by IANS
By Arun Kumar
Washington, Sep 23 (IANS) President Barack Obama has nominated an eminent Indian American agricultural scientist to the key post of chief agriculture negotiator in the office of the US Trade Representative to represent US in crucial agricultural trade talks.
Obama Tuesday announced his intent to nominate Islam A Siddiqui, who earned his Bachelor of Science degree in plant protection from the Uttar Pradesh Agriculture University and MS and PhD degrees in plant pathology, both from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana.
“I am grateful for the willingness of these fine individuals to serve my administration and am confident that they will represent our nation well. I look forward to working with them in the coming months and years,” Obama said of Siddiqui and seven other key appointees.
Siddiqui is currently Vice President for Science and Regulatory Affairs at CropLife America, where he is responsible for regulatory and international trade issues related to crop protection chemicals.
Previously, Siddiqui also served as CropLife America’s vice president for agricultural biotechnology and trade.
From 1997 to 2001, Siddiqui served in various capacities in the Clinton administration at US Department of Agriculture as Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programmes, Senior Trade Advisor to Secretary Dan Glickman and Deputy Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programmes.
As a result, he worked closely with the USTR and represented USDA in bilateral, regional and multilateral agricultural trade negotiations.
Since 2004, Siddiqui has also served on the US Department of Commerce’s Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals, and Health/Science Products & Services, which advises the US Secretary of Commerce and USTR on international trade issues related to these sectors.
Between 2001 and 2003, Siddiqui was senior associate at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where he focused on agricultural biotechnology and food security issues.
Before joining USDA, Siddiqui spent 28 years with the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
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