Milling & Baking News - June 30, 2020 - 36

Washington

Continued from Page 34

to build this trust in the trade realm,
which I think is probably the most basic aspect of this relationship, because,
as you know, trade, when done properly, benefits both sides equally."
A statement issued by Zhao Lijian
of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the meeting between Mr. Pompeo and Mr. Yang made no mention
of what the two diplomats discussed
relating to the phase one agreement.
Instead, the statement lambasted the
United States for interfering in China's
domestic affairs relating to Taiwan
and Hong Kong and the treatment of
the Uighur Moslem minority in Xinjiang province in northwest China.

In order to meet its commitments
under the phase one agreement, China
will have to greatly accelerate its purchases of US farm products. The US
Department of Agriculture indicated
China purchased only $4.65 billion
worth of US farm products in the first
four months of 2020.
China in the past several weeks has
stepped up its purchases of US soybeans. The USDA said exports and
undelivered sales of US soybeans to
China for 2019-20 totaled 12.8 million
tonnes through June 11. Additionally,
China has purchased 3 million tonnes
of soybeans for delivery in 2020-21,
which begins Sept. 1.
China also recently purchased 63,000

Senate committee moves forward US
Grain Standards Reauthorization Act
WASHINGTON - The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and
Forestry on June 24 approved by a
voice vote the US Grain Standards Reauthorization Act of 2020. The act will
reauthorize the US Grain Standards
Act, first passed in 1916, for another
five years. The reauthorization bill
will be taken up by the full Senate.
The current US Grain Standards Reauthorization Act, which was passed in
2015, expires on Sept. 30.
"The entire federal grain inspection system needs the
certainty, predictability
and transparency that
the bipartisan US Grain
Standards
Reauthorization Act of 2020 provides," said Senator Pat
Roberts of Kansas, chair- Roberts
man of the agriculture
committee. "The Senate Agriculture
Committee has never let this reauthorization lapse, and as is customary in our
Committee, we have listened before
putting pen to paper. I appreciate our
stakeholders' input while crafting this
bill. It will serve them well and help
maintain our country's reputation as a
reliable exporter of quality grain."
Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, ranking member of the agriculture
committee, said, "As our farmers face
unprecedented uncertainty and trade
instability, it is vital that we maintain
the integrity of our grain inspection
system. This bipartisan bill protects
the interests of American farmers and
ensures our credibility as a reliable producer of high-quality crops."
The US Grain Standards Act as
36 / June 30, 2020

Milling & Baking News

amended authorizes the Federal Grain
Inspection Service (FGIS) of the US
Department of Agriculture (USDA) to
establish official marketing standards
for certain grains and oilseeds. The
covered crops are barley, canola, corn,
flaxseed, oats, rye, sorghum, soybeans, sunflower seed, triticale, wheat
and mixed grain.
As issued and modified in regulations, official grain standards define
each grain, classes of the grain, and
numerical grades. The standards facilitate the marketing of grain by serving
in contract language, enabling buyers
and sellers to more easily determine
quality, and therefore value, of these
commodities.
The USGSA also prohibits deceptive
practices with respect to the inspection
and weighing of grain (such as altering
official certificates or adding foreign
material to any grain) and provides
penalties for violations of the act.
All official inspections are financed
by user fees authorized by the USGSA
only through the statutorily set time
period, with the federal portion of fee
revenue maintained in a trust fund.
FGIS activities such as developing
grain standards and improving techniques for measuring grain quality are
financed with congressionally appropriated funds. In fiscal year 2019, user
fee revenue under the USGSA was approximately $32 million, and the FGIS
appropriation was $20 million.
The Roberts-Stabenow bill passed in
committee on June 24 would reauthorize the US Grain Standards Act until
Sept. 30, 2025.
The bill would include customers or

tonnes of US hard red winter wheat.
Separately, additional mixed messaging about the US-China relationship emerged from the administration. US Trade Representative Robert
Lighthizer on June 17, while testifying
before the House Committee on Ways
and Means, said a full decoupling of
the Chinese and US economies was
not "a reasonable policy option."
President Donald Trump the next
day responded in a tweet, "It was not
Ambassador Lighthizer's fault (yesterday in Committee) in that perhaps
I didn't make myself clear, but the US
certainly does maintain a policy option,
under various conditions, of a complete
decoupling from China. Thank you!" MBN
applicants for inspection or weighing
services among the parties that must
be notified in writing at least 72 hours
in advance if a delegated state agency
intends to temporarily discontinue official inspection or weighing services.
The bill would extend the authority to
collect fees to fund official inspections to
Sept. 30, 2025. It would extend the authority to collect fees to provide official
weighing services to Sept. 30, 2025.
The Secretary of Agriculture would
be required to report and publish quarterly the number of waivers for official
inspections requested or granted; the
number of exceptions for inspections
across geographic boundaries requested or granted; and certain inspection
program data for intrinsic quality factors and food safety factors that have
been included in the FGIS annual report for the most recent five years.
The administrative and supervisory
cost cap would be extended to Sept.
30, 2025. It would prohibit user fees
collected by the FGIS for official grain
inspection and weighing services from
being used for activities related to the
development or maintenance of grain
standards, or for any other activity
that is not directly related to the performance of an official inspection or
weighing service.
The bill also would maintain the
length of the terms of service of the advisory committee, authorize members
to serve up to two consecutive terms,
and reauthorize the advisory committee through Sept. 30, 2025.
Finally, the bill would require the
USDA to conduct a comprehensive
nationwide review of the official
agency geographic areas and to report its findings and recommendations to Congress within 18 months
of enactment. MBN
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

http://www.bakingbusiness.com http://www.world-grain.com

Milling & Baking News - June 30, 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Milling & Baking News - June 30, 2020