On September 7, 2017 NAEGA, along with the National Grain and Feed Association, issued a statement commending the Secretary of Agriculture for his decision to relocate the Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS) with the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). Last week, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced this decision as part of a second tranche of USDA reorganization designed to strengthen and enhance the department’s customer-service focus and maximize efficiency.  In doing so, Perdue separated FGIS from the Packers and Stockyards Administration within the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) – two agencies with significantly different missions, functions and roles. This reorganization will provide the impetus for FGIS to improve its cross-agency interaction with other government departments that share roles in facilitating the marketing of U.S. agricultural products, such as USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, which is responsible for issuing phytosanitary certificates for U.S. grain export shipments.

A copy of the statement can be found here.