ARLINGTON, Va., Dec. 2, 2020 — The National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) today commended the House for approving the U.S. Grain Standards Reauthorization Act of 2020 (S. 4054), which President Donald Trump is expected to sign into law.
“This legislation, which would reauthorize the U.S. Grain Standards Reauthorization Act for another five years, provides certainty while improving the official inspection and weighing system by providing more transparency, information-sharing, and better data,” said NGFA President and CEO Randy Gordon. “This legislation is foundationally important in providing for official grain inspection and weighing services through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Federal Grain Inspection Service, as well as that agency’s maintenance of the U.S. grain standards that are relied upon by buyers, sellers and end-users to merchandise grains and oilseeds in domestic and international markets. Ultimately, this law benefits U.S. and global consumers by enhancing the utility and efficiency of the grain marketing system.”
NGFA said it particularly appreciated the leadership of House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., and Ranking Member Mike Conaway, R-Texas, for their support of the reauthorization and commitment to ensuring its approval in the House on an expedited basis.
The bill, authored by Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., passed out of the committee in June before being unanimously approved by the full Senate on Nov. 16, after which the NGFA issued a statement urging prompt House approval.
FGIS establishes official marketing standards for grains and oilseeds under the authorization provided by the U.S. Grain Standards Act, which was first signed into law in 1916. The existing authorization law, which was enacted in 2015 and included provisions to ensure uninterrupted export inspections, expired Sept. 30.
In a June 23 support letter to Senate Agriculture Committee leaders, NGFA and the North American Export Grain Association (NAEGA) supported reauthorizing all expiring provisions of the current law for another five years, including: the ability for Congress to appropriate funding for standardization and compliance activities that have broad societal benefits, including to farmers and consumers; authorization for the continued operation of the USDA Grain Inspection Advisory Committee; and the current statutory limitation on the amount of money FGIS can spend on administrative costs not associated with direct inspection and weighing activities.
The U.S. Grain Standards Reauthorization Act of 2020 also includes several improvements advocated by NGFA and NAEGA that they said will promote increased data and information-sharing to benefit the system and its users, including:
- Requiring delegated state agencies to notify users of Official inspection or weighing services at least 72 hours in advance of any intent to discontinue such services;
- Ensuring FGIS user fees are directed solely to inspection and weighing services;
- Reporting requests for waivers, exceptions and intrinsic quality and food safety factors received and granted by FGIS; and
- Directing FGIS to complete a comprehensive review of the current boundaries for the officially designated grain inspection agencies in the domestic marketplace.
During the reauthorization process, NGFA and NAEGA also highlighted their concerns about ongoing non-tariff trade barriers that periodically have created uncertainty for exports of U.S. grains and oilseeds, noting that the reauthorization bill retains a provision that prohibits the “use of false or misleading grade designations” on official grade certificates for U.S. grain exports.
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The NGFA, established in 1896, consists of more than 1,000 grain, feed, processing, exporting and other grain-related companies that operate more than 7,000 facilities and handle more than 70 percent of all U.S. grains and oilseeds. Its membership includes grain elevators; feed and feed ingredient manufacturers; biofuels companies; grain and oilseed processors and millers; exporters; livestock and poultry integrators; and associated firms that provide goods and services to the nation’s grain, feed and processing industry. The NGFA also consists of 34 affiliated State and Regional Grain and Feed Associations, and is co-located and has a strategic alliance with North American Export Grain Association, and a strategic alliance with Pet Food Institute.