About ASA-IM
(American Soybean Association International Marketing)

The American Soybean Association  International Marketing is a non-profit, single commodity organization dedicated to develop the markets for U.S. soybeans and soybean products around the world on behalf of U.S. soybean producers and related industry. In the face of dynamically changing global soybean industry, U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) was founded in October 2005 to continue the American Soybean Association's long tradition of providing service and support to international markets. Continuing to work as ASA-IM in overseas markets, representatives work in more than 80 countries based out of nine offices located around the world.

ASA-IM/MEA

ASA-IM Middle East office opened in 1998 and is located in Istanbul, Turkey. The office serves the primary U.S. soy markets of Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Dubai. ASA-IM/MEA's focus in this region is to build the market for U.S. soybeans and soybean products through a variety of programs that focus on purchasing, crushing, soy oil refining, fullfat soybean meal utilization, improved animal feed formulations in the poultry, dairy and aqua sectors, and on the promotion of soy as human food.

ASA Supports Action to Retain USSEC as International Marketing Contractor

February 18, 2010... Saint Louis, Missouri... The American Soybean Association (ASA) expresses appreciation to the United Soybean Board (USB) directors who voted to retain the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) as USB's prime contractor for International Marketing. The vote took place on Wednesday, Feb. 17, at USB's Board Meeting in Birmingham, Ala.

"The American Soybean Association fully supports the U.S. Soybean Export Council continuing as the international marketing contractor to the United Soybean Board and ASA," said ASA President Rob Joslin, a soybean producer from Sidney, Ohio. "ASA believes the involvement through USSEC of all key players within the U.S. soy industry - USB, ASA, exporters, and allied industry representatives - is an important tool for the leveraging of all resources to expand U.S. soy exports."

ASA and USB formed USSEC in October 2005, to implement the International Marketing program for U.S. soybeans and soy products. The USSEC board consists of representatives from ASA, USB and the U.S. soybean industry. USSEC activities to expand international markets for U.S. soybeans and products are made possible through ASA's investment of cost-share funding provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), support from cooperating industry, and by producer checkoff dollars invested by USB and various State Soybean Councils.

"The critical connection between international marketing efforts and ASA's successful trade policy activities is well known to soybean farmers," Joslin said. "U.S. soy exports would not be setting new records almost every year if it hadn't been for the trade policy initiatives and market access responses undertaken by ASA coupled with checkoff and FAS-funded international marketing efforts."

ASA was recently notified by USDA that it garnered nearly $12 million in new FAS funding for soy export promotion activities in Fiscal Year 2010. This included over $5.1 million from the Market Access Program, and more than $6.8 million from the Foreign Market Development Program, which was the highest amount allocated to any FMD program participant.

USSEC has market development and technical services staff and offices operating as American Soybean Association International Marketing (ASA-IM) in Mexico, Japan, Taiwan, Republic of Korea, Republic of Singapore, People's Republic of China, India, The Netherlands and Turkey.

More than half the value of the U.S. soybean crop was exported last year when exports hit a record level of 35 million metric tons with a value of almost $14 billion, plus soybean meal exports of nearly $3 billion, and soybean oil exports of nearly $900 million.

"ASA looks forward to working with USB as co-founder of USSEC, as well as exporters and allied industry representatives on USSEC, to even further expand U.S. soy exports in the years to come," Joslin said.