Secretary's Speech

Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez
Remarks at Kikkoman 50th Anniversary Celebration
Washington, D.C.

Thank you. I am pleased to celebrate Kikkoman’s 50th anniversary in the United States with you tonight. Your products, your people, and your investment in our country have contributed to the American palette and the American economy.

Over the past 50 years your contributions have enhanced the economic and cultural ties between the United States and Japan.

Kikkoman is a symbol of that relationship and the many values we share. Kikkoman:

• Produces products of the highest quality, including your naturally brewed soy sauce. That’s something of tremendous importance to both American and Japanese consumers, and it’s one of the reasons why Kikkoman is so successful in both our countries.
• Encourages understanding between our two countries through the International Institute for Food Culture;
• Innovates constantly with new products—yet never forgets its heritage;
• Kikkoman also Invests in America—not only are we celebrating the 50th anniversary of Kikkoman in the U.S., but also the 35th anniversary of your first foreign direct investment in our country, in your Walworth, Wisconsin plant.

We appreciate your investments, and encourage further investment in the U.S.

These investments are an example of what open trading and investment relationships can bring. Both of our countries benefit enormously when markets are open.

Last year trade between our two countries was more than $200 billion. Japan is our third largest export market, larger than any other country after Canada and Mexico.

Now more than ever it is important that we continue to look outward, engage the world, and resist any temptation to go backwards toward protectionism and isolationism. The U.S. Congress now has the opportunity to show leadership, and dispel any notion that our nation is having second thoughts about trade.

The way to prove our continued leadership will be by passing the four FTAs now pending before Congress, those with Peru, Colombia, Panama and South Korea.

The U.S. has also taken a leadership role at the Doha Round of WTO negotiations. We continue to believe a strong WTO agreement is the biggest thing we could do to raise millions of people around the world out of poverty.

I know we are here tonight to celebrate, however we don’t have the opportunity to get together too often. So I’d like to take a moment to talk about a hot topic that is of particular importance to all of us who are, or have been in the food business—food safety.

Food represents a significant portion of trade. As a result, maintaining the safety of our nation’s food imports has become increasingly important.

This Administration is responding to those concerns.

I am part of the Import Safety Working Group the President formed in July which is being led by Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt. The President asked us to review the procedures, regulations and practices that are in place. We will be making recommendations so that we continue to have the safest food supply and highest standards of consumer protection in the world.

Our recommendations will allow our country to adapt to a rapidly changing global economy in which the value of goods going across our borders is projected to triple between now and 2015.

The core principles upon which this framework will be built are prevention, intervention and response.

We in government can’t inspect every shipment—safety must start at the point of manufacture. I ask all of you with suppliers overseas to ensure that effective certification systems, procedures, standards, and on–site visits are taking place. It’s up to all of us to create better systems that build in quality from the start and continually improve safeguards.

We at the Department of Commerce play a number of roles in this process.

We work with foreign seafood firms through our National Seafood Inspection Program, which is run by NOAA. And we also negotiate with many governments, including Japan, to develop standards, regulations and enforcement measures that can enhance the safety and quality of imported products throughout the product lifecycle. This is what American consumers expect and what they deserve.

Before the Working Group sends a follow-up action plan to the President in mid-November, a public meeting will be held on Monday, October 1st, here in Washington. At that meeting we will discuss the actions that public and private stakeholders can take to promote the safety of imported products.

In the 50 years since Kikkoman entered our market America’s appetite for food from all over the world has dramatically increased, and the global economy has created new opportunities for us all.

Thank you for your contributions to our nation’s rich and diverse food culture over the past 50 years. We look forward to many more years of friendship with both Japan and with Kikkoman.

Congratulations and thank you.