ITALY STANCE ON EC OILS TAX NOT ENCOURAGING-ASA

  Italy's response to protests by U.S.
  Soybean producers about the proposed European Community (EC)
  tax on vegetable oils and fats had not been encouraging,
  American Soybean Association (ASA) board chairman George
  Fluegel said.
      Fluegel, heading one of three U.S. Soybean producer
  delegations currently on a lobbying tour of EC countries, told
  Reuters in an interview meetings with officials from the
  Italian Foreign and Agricultural ministries had not yielded
  much to encourage hopes that Italy would vote against the
  proposed tax.
      Fluegel said his delegation had received a negative
  response from the Italian Agriculture Ministry, but that the
  attitude of the Foreign Ministry appeared "more realistic."
      He said the proposed tax was discriminatory against U.S.
  Farmers since it was basically asking them to help finance the
  EC's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) on oilseeds.
      Asked which EC countries might be expected to vote against
  the proposed tax, he said, "Realistically, from the information
  we're getting, it looks like the English, the Germans,
  hopefully the Netherlands and Denmark." His delegation also
  hoped to convince Belgium to vote against the issue, he added.
      Asked what form he thought U.S. Retaliatory action might
  take in the event of the EC tax proposal being approved,
  Fluegel said industrial as well as agricultural products could
  be involved.
      U.S. Agriculture Secretary Richard Lyng warned the EC
  yesterday it would face serious retaliation if it enacted the
  tax.
      ASA president-elect Wayne Bennett said yesterday in The
  Hague American soybean producers were confident the proposed
  tax would be rejected.
  

