Soy growers showed support on Thursday for legislation to reauthorize the U.S. Grain Standards Act (USGSA) set to expire at the end of September.

USGSA sets the framework for the functioning of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS), requiring official inspections for all export shipments.

The Senate Ag Committee will mark up a reauthorization bill on Thursday, which includes renewal of the USGSA. The American Soybean Association (ASA), along with the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG), and several other ag groups, sent a letter to Sens. Pat Roberts (KS) and Debbie Stabenow (MI) this week urging a conclusion the reauthorization process.

“We believe the bill you are considering this morning includes several important provisions that will enable uninterrupted trade in agricultural products and maintain trust in our inspection system,” the letter states. “Specifically, we support the inclusion of the provisions requiring that in instances where a delegated state agency decides to discontinue inspection services, that agency must provide 72-hour notice, as well as the requirement that FGIS immediately take such actions as are necessary to maintain inspections.”

ASA has been active in the development of legislation to reauthorize the USGSA, including testimony by ASA Director Bill Gordon (MN) earlier this year before the Senate Agriculture Committee.  At that hearing, Gordon called on Congress to ensure that grain inspections under USGSA remain both mandatory and continuous, in response to several high-profile work stoppages that disrupted the flow of grain through the supply chain last year.

Click here to read the entire letter.