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 Agricultural Negotiator is compensated at the rate payable for Level III of the Executive Schedule.

The position has its origins in the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act of 1934, which stipulated that the Secretary of Agriculture must be consulted when the Department of State conducted negotiations on agricultural trade. At that time the head of Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Leslie A. Wheeler, began to lead agricultural negotiations. His successors as heads of the Office of Foreign Agricultural Relations and the Foreign Agricultural Service continued this work until creation of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in 1962.

Initially, USTR's agricultural negotiations were closely coordinated with the Administrator of the Foreign Agricultural Service, and in fact during the Kennedy Round of GATT negotiations FAS Administrator Raymond A. Ioanes served as the principal agricultural negotiator. By the late 1970s, however, such matters were handled by an Assistant United States Trade Representative for Agricultural Affairs and Commodity Policy who after 1978 was a career member of the Senior Executive Service. Over time this position evolved into a politically appointed Special Trade Negotiator for Agricultural and Food Policy who did not enjoy ambassadorial rank.

During negotiation of the Uruguay Round of GATT talks that led ultimately to creation of the World Trade Organization, Charles J. O'Mara, a Senior Foreign Service officer of the Foreign Agricultural Service, was appointed Counsel for International Affairs to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and Special Trade Negotiator for Agriculture. According to Congressional testimony,

...
Wikipedia