Source: Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE, 3/12/12
USDA’s Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS) said Thursday the agency has proposed a rule that would add pork and distillers dried grain (DDG) to list of commodities covered by the federal Export Sales Reporting Requirements to enhance market transparency.
The rule would require all exporters of U.S. pork and DDG to report weekly export sales of those commodities to FAS. Mandatory information would include the quantity, destination and marketing year of all pork and DDG export sales, including changes in previously reported sales.
“Exports of these two products have grown significantly in recent years,” FAS Acting Administrator Suzanne Heinen said in the agency’s news release, noting that DDG exports quadrupled to 8 million tons in 2011 from 2010 and pork exports doubled to 2 million tons in 2011 from levels reported five years ago. “Adding pork and DDGs to the Export Sales Reporting Requirements would improve market transparency and enable commodity markets to better adjust to changing export activity.”
The proposed rule would make information on total volumes of sales and shipments available within two weeks of trade, compared with the nearly two-month lag in reporting by the U.S. Bureau of Census.
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