LONDON, ENGLAND — The International Grains Council (IGC) has named Corinne Roux, policy adviser for the trade relations unit of the Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG) in Switzerland, as the IGC’s chairperson for 2020-21.

Roux is familiar with the IGC and its work, having served as Switzerland’s representative to the organization since 2014. Previously, she was involved in the negotiations of the new Food Assistance Convention, which came into effect in 2012.

During her tenure, Roux will be working with the Secretariat and Council members to further develop information and transparency in the global grains, oilseeds and rice markets. Following the uncertainty caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, the Secretariat will issue five-year supply and demand forecasts for 2021-26 for the main grains, oilseeds and rice, with a particular focus on demand trends.

The report will be made available on the IGC public website in January 2021. 

Switzerland also is interested in encouraging dialogue and cooperation between the public and private sectors and will co-organize a seminar with the IGC Secretariat in January 2021 to promote global trade in the grains, oilseeds and rice sectors, which also will be one of the main themes of the next IGC Grains Conference in June 2021.

“I would like to thank the Council for supporting my candidacy as chair of the IGC for 2020-21,” Roux said. “The last months with COVID-19 have underlined the importance of the IGC and the Secretariat’s work to share unbiased and transparent information in order to allow importers, exporters and producers to react to new situations and to make informed decisions. I am looking forward to supporting the organization in that role.”