Emergency Grain Standards Amendments

(Reported to Senate from the Committee on Agriculture and Forestry with amendment, S. Rept. 94-386)

Emergency Grain Standards Amendments - =Title I: Criminal Offenses and Penalties= - Removes the "knowingly" requirement from the definition of offenses under the United States Grain Standards Act. Grades the penalties which may be imposed for offenses under such Act according to the degree of culpability. Prohibits bribery of persons licensed as inspectors under such Act. Makes it unlawful, under the Criminal Code, to assault or kill employees of the Department of Agriculture assigned to inspect, weigh, or grade under the provisions of the Grain Standards Act.

=Title II: Temporary Authorities for the Secretary of Agriculture= - Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to hire temporary additional personnel for one year, with Commodity Credit Corporation funds, in such number as he deems necessary to implement properly this joint resolution.

Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture, for a period of one year, to hire temporary additional personnel for the purpose of stationing them in foreign nations which are substantial importers of United States grain to conduct random and periodic inspections of United States grain upon its entry into the foreign country to determine whether it is of the same kind, class, quality, and condition that it was certified to be when it was officially inspected in the United States prior to being shipped.

Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to review the designation of all official inspection agencies to determine if they are in compliance with the provisions of the United States Grain Standards Act and the regulations issued pursuant to that Act.

Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture, for a period of one year, to revoke an inspection agency's designation if he determines that the agency ownership has a conflict-of-interest relationship with a grain business.

Allows the Secretary to assign United States Department of Agriculture personnel to perform all or specified inspection or reinspection functions involved in the official inspection of grain, for a period of up to one year, in specified circumstances.

Allows the Secretary, for a one-year period, to require that all grain shipped in foreign commerce be inspected and graded, and no vessel shipping export grain be given clearance to leave a port until the grain it contains has been inspected.

Authorizes the Secretary, for a period of one year, to regulate and supervise the weighing and the certification of grain that is shipped from any elevator or warehouse into interstate or foreign commerce.

=Title III: Authority for a One-Year Study of Grain Exporters by the Comptroller General= - Requires the Comptroller General, for a period of one year, to evaluate and monitor the previous and current compliance with the United States Grain Standards Act, of the predominant exporters of U.S. grain, with special emphasis on the impact of such exporters on the prices received by farmers for their grain and the quality of grain received by foreign purchasers of such grain. Directs him to make periodic reports to the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry and the House Committee on Agriculture and to make a final report.

=Title IV: Registration Requirements= - Requires the registration of any person engaged in the business of buying grain for sale in interstate or foreign commerce and in the business of handling, weighing, or transporting of grain for sale in interstate or foreign commerce.

Excepts from such registration requirement: producers of grain who are only incidentally or occasionally involved in the grain trade, persons who buy grain for feeding and processing, and specified small merchandisers of grain. Permits the Secretary to suspend or revoke a registration for specified violations.

=Title V: Department of Agriculture Reporting Requirements= - Requires the Secretary to notify Congress within 30 days of any complaint made to him by a foreign purchaser regarding faulty grain delivery after a determination by the Secretary that there is reasonable cause for the complaint; and to submit to the Congress annually a summary of all foreign complaints for which there is reasonable cause to believe the complaint is valid.

Directs the Secretary to conduct a study of the current standards used for grading grain, to assure that producers, handlers, and transporters of grain are encouraged and rewarded for the production, maintenance and delivery of high quality grain; and to submit a report of his findings to the Congress within six months.

Directs the Secretary to conduct a study concerning the contamination, transportation, and handling of United States agricultural products and to submit a report based on the results of such study, within one year.

Requires the Secretary to submit a written report to the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry and the House Committee on Agriculture every 60 days, for one year after the enactment of this resolution, on steps taken by the Secretary to implement the resolution; and the current status of Federal investigations of irregularities involving grain inspection.