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Export Sales Reporting Requirements
Jun 25, 2012 (Agriculture Department Documents and Publications/ContentWorks via COMTEX) --
SUMMARY: This proposed rule would add reporting for pork (fresh, chilled, and frozen box/primal cuts) and distillers dried grain (DDG) to the Export Sales Reporting Requirements. Under this proposed rule, all exporters of U.S. pork and DDG would be required to report on a weekly basis, information on the export sales of pork and DDG to the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS).
EFFECTIVE DATE: Submit comments on or before August 24, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Address all comments concerning this proposed rule to Peter W. Burr, Branch Chief, Export Sales Reporting Branch, Import Policies and Export Reporting Division, Office of Trade Programs, Foreign Agricultural Service, 1400 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20250-1021, STOP 1021; or by email at Pete.Burr@fas.usda.gov; or by telephone at (202) 720-3274; or fax to (202) 720-0876.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peter W. Burr, Branch Chief, Export Sales Reporting Branch, Import Policies and Export Reporting Division, Office of Trade Programs, Foreign Agricultural Service, 1400 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20250-1021, STOP 1021; or by email at Pete.Burr@fas.usda.gov; or by telephone on (202) 720-3274; or by fax (202) 720-0876. Persons with disabilities who require an alternative means for communication of information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA's Target Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the request for OMB approval. All comments also will become a matter of public record.
Background
In 1973, Congress mandated an export sales reporting requirement to ensure that all parties involved in the production and export of U.S. grain have access to up-to-date export information. There was concern that large grain companies had an advantage because they had more information than the public on future prices and grain trade trends. Prior to the establishment of the export sales reporting requirements, it was difficult for the public to obtain information on exports until such commodities were actually shipped.
Authorized under Section 602 of the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978, as amended (7 U.S.C. 5712), the Export Sales Reporting Requirements mandate that exporters of wheat and wheat flour, feed grains, oil seeds, cotton, pork, beef and products thereof, and other commodities that the Secretary of Agriculture (the Secretary) may designate to report each week all of their export sales, regardless of the quantity, to the Secretary. The Export Sales Reporting Requirements regulation at 7 CFR 20.2 provides that the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) administer the requirements and delegates authority to the FAS Administrator to promulgate amendments and revisions to the regulation. There are 39 commodities that are currently covered. This proposed rule would add reporting for pork (fresh, chilled, and frozen box/primal cuts) and DDG to the Export Sales Reporting Requirements.
In recent years, USDA has received numerous requests from the U.S. pork and DDG industries to add those commodities to the Export Sales Reporting Requirements. An internal review conducted by USDA supported the claim made by these industries that the addition of pork and DDG to the Export Sales Reporting Requirements would facilitate market transparency and enable the U.S. commodity markets and the U.S. industries to conduct more accurate and timely analysis on U.S. market conditions. More recently the Mandatory Price Reporting Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-239) mandates that pork be added to the Export Sales Reporting Requirements.
Reporting under the Export Sales Reporting Requirements is mandatory. All exporters of U.S. commodities are required to report all sales, regardless of the size of the sale, of wheat (by class), wheat products, barley, corn, grain sorghum, oats, rye, soybeans, soybean cake and meal, soybean oil, flaxseed, linseed oil, cotton (by type), sunflowerseed oil, cottonseed, cottonseed cake and meal, cottonseed oil, rice (by class), cattle hides and skins (cattle, calf, and kip), wet blues (grain, unsplit, and split), and beef. The reporting period is Friday through Thursday each week.
Exporters provide information on the quantity of the sale transaction, the type and class of commodity, the marketing year of shipment, the export amount, and the destination. They also report any change of previously reported information, such as cancellations and changes in destination. A weekly summary of the export sales activity is published every Thursday at 8:30 a.m. eastern time, unless a change of time is announced. The "U.S. Export Sales" report does not provide data on individual firms, only a compilation of activity by commodity. Any person (exporter) who knowingly fails to make a report could be fined up to $25,000, imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.
Additional "daily" sales reporting is required for wheat, corn, grain sorghum, barley, oats, soybeans, soybean cake and meal, and soybean oil. Daily sales reporting is required when sales of 100,000 metric tons (20,000 metric tons for soybean oil), or more, are made by a single exporter in one calendar day to one destination. In addition, sales totaling 200,000 metric tons (40,000 metric tons for soybean oil) made during the reporting week, excluding any previously reported daily sale, are also required to be reported under the daily sales reporting requirement. Daily sales are required to be reported to USDA by 3 p.m. eastern time no later than one day after the sale is made. Daily sales are summarized and released to the general public through a press announcement at 9:00 a.m. eastern time on the following business day and appear in the weekly report.
The "U.S. Export Sales Reports" are available electronically on the INTERNET through the FAS Home Page http://www.fas.usda.gov/export-sales/esrd1.html. A paper copy is also available by subscription from the National Technical Information Service at http://www.ntis.gov/products/usda-fas.aspx.
Under this proposed rule, all exporters of U.S. pork and DDG would be required to report weekly information with respect to the export sales of pork and DDG to the Export Sales Reporting Branch, Office of Trade Programs, FAS, USDA. Required reportable information includes the quantity, destination, and marketing year of all pork and DDG export sales, changes in sales, and shipments per parameters identified in Appendix 1. A summary of the "U.S. Export Sales Reports" is published on FAS' Web site at http://www.fas.usda.gov/export-sales/esrd1.html, each Thursday at 8:30 a.m. eastern time. This change would not alter the current reporting schedule and would be undertaken using existing staff at no additional cost to the agency.
Adding pork and DDG to the Export Sales Reporting Requirements would provide an early indicator of export sales levels for these products thus improving market transparency and enabling commodity markets to better adjust to changing export activity. This proposed rule would allow for information on the total volume of sales and shipments to be available within two weeks of the export sale and shipment, rather than the nearly two-month delay experienced under the current system operated by the U.S. Bureau of the Census, which only reports actual exports.
With the pork and DDG export markets continuing to grow, the need for market transparency is becoming increasingly important. The current two-month lag in export data as available from the U.S. Bureau of the Census provides a window of opportunity for foreign buyers to buy quantities of U.S. product at prices that may be lower than if current market conditions were known. Export Sales Reporting data is released the week after the export sale takes place, thus providing a timelier indicator of current market conditions.
Executive Order 12866
The proposed rule has been determined to be significant under Executive Order 12866 and has been reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget.
Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Regulatory Flexibility Act ensures that regulatory and information requirements are tailored to the size and nature of small businesses, small organizations, and small governmental jurisdictions. This proposed rule will not have a significant economic impact on small businesses.
Executive Order 12372
Executive Order 12372, "Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs," requires consultation with state and local officials. The objectives of the Executive Order are to foster an intergovernmental partnership and a strengthened federalism, by relying on state and local processes for state and local government coordination and review of proposed federal financial assistance and direct federal development. This rule neither provides federal financial assistance nor direct federal development; it does not provide either grants or cooperative agreements. Therefore this program is not subject to Executive Order 12372.
Executive Order 12988
This proposed rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12988. The provisions of this proposed rule would not have a preemptive effect with respect to any state or local laws, regulations, or policies which conflict with such provision or which otherwise impede their full implementation. The proposed rule would not have a retroactive effect. Before any judicial action may be brought forward regarding this proposed rule, all administrative remedies must be exhausted.
Executive Order 13132
The policies contained in this rule would not have any substantial direct effect on states, on the relationship between the national government and the states, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities among the various levels of government. Nor would this rule impose substantial direct compliance costs on state and local governments. Therefore, consultation with the states is not required.
Executive Order 13175
--This is a summary of a Federal Register article originally published on the page number listed below--
Proposed rule.
CFR Part: "7 CFR Part 20"
RIN Number: "RIN 0551-AA81"
Citation: "77 FR 37823"
Federal Register Page Number: "37823"
"Proposed Rules"
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