bunge 2004 annual report notes to the consolidated  financial statements 1. basis of presentation and significant  accounting policies description of business Bunge Limited is a Bermuda  holding company. Bunge Limited, together with its consolidated subsidiaries through which Bunge’s businesses are conducted (collectively, “Bunge”), is an integrated, global agribusiness and food company. Bunge Limited’s shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “BG.” Bunge operates  in three divisions, which include four reporting segments: agribusiness, fertilizer, edible oil products and milling products. agribusiness Bunge’s agribusiness segment is an integrated business involved in the purchase, processing, storage and sale of grains and oilseeds. Bunge’s agribusiness operations and assets are primarily located in North and South America and Europe and it has international marketing offices throughout the world. fertilizer Bunge’s fertilizer segment is involved in every stage  of the fertilizer business, from mining of raw materials to sales  of fertilizer products. Bunge’s fertilizer operations are primarily located in Brazil. edible oil products Bunge’s edible oil products segment  consists of producing and selling edible oil products, such as edible oils, shortenings, margarine, mayonnaise and other  products derived from refined vegetable oil. Bunge’s edible  oil products operations are located in North America, Europe, Brazil and India. milling products Bunge’s milling products segment includes the wheat and corn milling businesses. The wheat milling business consists of producing and selling flours. Bunge’s wheat milling activities are located in Brazil. The corn milling business consists of producing and selling products derived from corn. Bunge’s corn milling activities are located in the United States. The accompanying consolidated financial statements are prepared basis of presentation and principles of consolidation in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America and include the assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses of all subsidiaries over which Bunge exercises control. Bunge’s consolidated financial statements include the accounts of all majority-owned subsidiaries where our ownership is more than 50% of common stock. Bunge has no non-consolidated majority-owned subsidiaries. All significant intercompany transactions and balances with consolidated sub- sidiaries are eliminated in the consolidated financial statements. Minority interest related to Bunge’s ownership interests of less than 100% is reported as minority interest in subsidiaries in the consolidated balance sheets. The minority ownership interest  of Bunge’s earnings, net of tax, is reported as minority interest  in its consolidated statements of income. Investments in 20% to 50% owned affiliates in which Bunge has the ability to exercise significant influence are accounted for  by the equity method of accounting whereby the investment is carried at acquisition cost, plus Bunge’s equity in undistributed earnings or losses since acquisition. Investments in less than 20% owned affiliates are accounted for by the cost method unless such investments are marketable securities, which are carried at market value. The accompanying consolidated financial statements are prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America and require management to make certain estimates and assumptions. These may affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities at the date of the financial state- ments. They may also affect the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Amounts affected include, but are not limited to, allowances for doubtful accounts, inventories, allowances for recoverable taxes, impairment and restructuring charges, useful lives of property, plant and equip- ment and intangible assets, contingent liabilities, income tax valuation allowances and pension plan obligations. Actual amounts may vary from those estimates. use of estimates and certain concentrations of risk 56