The U.S. Grains Council (USGC) and a coalition of grain and feed trade associations last week urged reforms to a proposed rule from USDA’s Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) to ensure that intermittent service withdrawals by the agency don’t disrupt export shipments.

In a letter sent supporting proposed rule changes made to the U.S. Grain Standards Act (USGSA), the Council, the National Oilseed Processors Association (NOPA) and other state and regional groups said that safeguards should ensure that the kind of disruptions in export shipments resulting from intermittent withdrawal of official services like those that occurred at the Port of Vancouver, Washington, during 2013-2014 never reoccur.

Amendments made to the USGSA by Congress represent the most significant changes to the statute in nearly 20 years and are expected to have a significant impact on U.S. exports.

These issues include:

• calculation and adjustment of fees to maintain a three- to six-month operating reserve for inspection and weighing services;
• new definitions and clarification of provisions in existing requirements; and
• the addition of an important new section to the statute that would require delegated states to notify GIPSA if they plan to temporarily discontinue official service.

“The comments we submitted reinforce the importance of the feed grain value chain’s reliance on GIPSA and its delegated state agencies,� said USGC Director of Trade Policy and Biotechnology Floyd Gaibler. “It is of great importance that these agencies continue to provide and perform state-of-the-art, market responsive official inspections and weighing services in an efficient, cost-effective and reliable manner.�

The groups recommended a suspension of the $0.011 per metric ton fee that is collected on U.S. domestic grain shipments inspected and/or weighed until the agency’s operating reserve reaches four and a half months of average monthly expenses based on the previous fiscal year’s spending.

Finally, the comments offered strong support for regulations requiring notification to export facilities if official service is to be discontinued by delegated official agencies 72 hours in advance of the discontinuation of such service. This is similar to the requirements to notify the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture of such discontinuance.

The comments that were filed align with a similar document that was filed by the National Grain and Feed Association and the North American Export Grain Association.

Click here to view a PDF version of these comments.