Islam A. Siddiqui () is an Indian-American scientist, and government official, and lobbyist who served as the

Chief Agricultural Negotiator The Chief Agricultural Negotiator is an ambassador of the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) responsible for conducting and overseeing international negotiations related to trade in agricultural products. The Chief Agricultura ...

in the

Office of the United States Trade Representative The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is an agency of the United States federal government responsible for developing and promoting United States foreign trade policies. Part of the Executive Office of the President, it ...

. Prior to this, he was Vice President for Science and Regulatory Affairs at CropLife America, and a career official in the

California Department of Food and Agriculture The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) is a Cabinet (government), cabinet-level agency in the government of California. Established in 1919 by the California State Legislature and signed into law by Governor William Stephens (Am ...

Education

Siddiqui earned a Bachelor of Science degree in plant protection from G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology in

Pantnagar Pantnagar is a town and a university campus in Udham Singh Nagar District, Uttarakhand. Nainital, Kashipur, Uttarakhand, Kashipur, Rudrapur, Uttarakhand, Rudrapur, Kiccha and Haldwani are the major cities surrounding Pantnagar. The town is hom ...

, India, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in plant pathology, both from the

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

Career

Siddiqui served the Clinton Administration in several capacities from 1997 to 2001. At the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and producti ...

, Siddiqui was Undersecretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, Senior Trade Advisor to Secretary

Dan Glickman Daniel Robert Glickman (born November 24, 1944) is an American politician, lawyer, lobbyist, and nonprofit leader. He served as the United States secretary of agriculture from 1995 until 2001 in the Clinton administration. He previously represen ...

, and Deputy Undersecretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs. Before joining USDA, Siddiqui spent 28 years with the

. From 2004 to 2009, Dr. Siddiqui served on the

United States Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce (DOC) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for gathering data for business and governmental decision making, establishing industrial standards, catalyzing econ ...

's Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals, and Health/Science Products and Services, which advises the

United States Secretary of Commerce The United States secretary of commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to commerce. The secretary rep ...

and

United States Trade Representative The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is an agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government responsible for developing and promoting Foreign trade of the United States, United States ...

on international trade issues related to these sectors. From 2001 and 2003, Siddiqui was appointed as Senior Associate at the

Center for Strategic and International Studies The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. From its founding in 1962 until 1987, it was an affiliate of Georgetown University, initially named the Center for Strategic and Inte ...

, where he focused on agricultural biotechnology and food security issues. From 2001 to 2008, Siddiqui was a registered

lobbyist Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by various entities, in ...

with CropLife America, representing biotechnology companies including

BASF BASF SE (), an initialism of its original name , is a European Multinational corporation, multinational company and the List of largest chemical producers, largest chemical producer in the world. Its headquarters are located in Ludwigshafen, Ge ...

Bayer CropScience Bayer AG (English: , commonly pronounced ; ) is a German multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company and is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies and biomedical companies in the world. Headquartered in Leverkusen, Bayer's a ...

Dow AgroSciences Dow AgroSciences Limited liability company, LLC was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Dow Chemical Company specializing in not only agricultural chemicals such as pesticides, but also seeds and biotechnology solutions. The company was based in ...

DuPont Dupont, DuPont, Du Pont, duPont, or du Pont may refer to: People * Dupont (surname) Dupont, also spelled as DuPont, duPont, Du Pont, or du Pont is a French surname meaning "of the bridge", historically indicating that the holder of the surname re ...

FMC Corp. FMC Corporation is an American chemical manufacturing company headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which originated as an insecticide producer in 1883 and later diversified into other industries. In 1941 at the beginning of US involvemen ...

Monsanto The Monsanto Company () was an American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation founded in 1901 and headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Monsanto's best-known product is Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, developed ...

Sumitomo The is a Japanese corporate group and '' keiretsu'' that traces its roots to the ''zaibatsu'' groups that were dissolved after World War II. Unlike the ''zaibatsu'' of the pre-war period, there is no controlling company with regulatory power. I ...

, and

Syngenta Syngenta Global AG is a global agricultural technology company headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. It primarily covers crop protection and seeds for farmers. Syngenta is part of the Syngenta Group, entirely owned by Sinochem, a Chinese state ...

. On April 2, 2010, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

named Siddiqui to the post of Chief Agricultural Negotiator in a

recess appointment In the United States, a recess appointment is an appointment by the President of the United States, president of a Officer of the United States, federal official when the United States Senate, U.S. Senate is in Recess (motion), recess. Under the ...

. Siddiqui's previous nomination to the position remained on the Senate docket for more than a year and a half. His nomination was reported to the Senate floor from the

United States Senate Committee on Finance The United States Senate Committee on Finance (or, less formally, Senate Finance Committee) is a standing committee of the United States Senate. The committee concerns itself with matters relating to taxation and other revenue measures generall ...

on October 11, 2011, and senators finally voted to confirm Siddiqui as part of an en bloc group of nominations confirmed early in the morning hours of October 21, 2011. Siddiqui submitted his resignation December 12, 2013.

Position on genetically modified foods

Siddiqui is a supporter of

genetically modified foods Genetically modified foods (GM foods), also known as genetically engineered foods (GE foods), or bioengineered foods are foods produced from organisms that have had changes introduced into their DNA using various methods of genetic engineering. G ...

for human consumption, and repudiates their potential health risks. In 1999, he worked against the mandatory labeling of genetically modified foods in Japan, stating that such labeling "would suggest a health risk where there is none." In 2003, he criticized the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

's precautionary rejection of the importation of genetically modified foods, stating that the ban was tantamount to "denying food to starving people." In 2009 he called for a "second

green revolution The Green Revolution, or the Third Agricultural Revolution, was a period during which technology transfer initiatives resulted in a significant increase in crop yields. These changes in agriculture initially emerged in Developed country , devel ...

" employing

biotechnology Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...

and

genetic engineering Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of Genetic engineering techniques, technologies used to change the genet ...

. In 1998, as Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs at the

, Siddiqui oversaw the release of the

National Organic Program The National Organic Program (NOP) is the federal regulatory framework in the United States, United States of America governing organic food. It is also the name of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service ...

's standards for organic food labeling. The standards permitted both irradiated and genetically modified foods to be labeled as organic. (The standards were subsequently revised in response to public opposition.) In 2005, speaking on behalf of CropLife America, Siddiqui stated his satisfaction with the defeat of local propositions in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

that would have banned cultivation of

genetically modified crop Genetically modified crops (GM crops) are plants used in agriculture, the DNA of which has been modified using genetic engineering methods. Plant genomes can be engineered by physical methods or by use of ''Agrobacterium'' for the delivery of se ...

s.Food Chemical News, January 3, 2005

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Siddiqui, Islam A. 1940s births Living people United States Department of Agriculture officials Biotechnologists American lobbyists American politicians of Indian descent American Muslims Indian emigrants to the United States University of Illinois College of Agriculture, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences alumni Recess appointments People from Haldwani Year of birth missing (living people)