USDA reviewing Port of Vancouver grain inspection shutdown
July 30, 2014 | 03:33 PM
Agriculture Department officials are reviewing the shutdown of grain inspection and weighing services at the Port of Vancouver, Wash., but cannot comment on any possible action until the review is complete, a USDA spokeswoman told The Hagstrom Report late Wednesday.
The National Grain and Feed Association on Tuesday made public a July 14 letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in which 22 national, regional and state agricultural producer, commodity and agribusiness organizations have urged USDA to restore the services which have been stopped due to a strike.
USDA’s Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) has designated the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) to provide official grain inspection and weighing services at the Port of Vancouver, but on July 1 WSDA posted a notice that it would no longer provide the service effective July 7.
The port is being picketed by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) as part of a labor dispute.
In the July 1 notice, the director of WSDA’s grain inspection program stated the belief that the “continued provision of inspection services appears to have been unhelpful in leading to any foreseeable resolution” of the dispute, NGFA noted in its news release.
NGFA also noted that several of the organizations had met last October with GIPSA Administrator Larry Mitchell and other USDA officials to urge that the agency prepare contingency plans to ensure an “immediate and effective” program to continue official services at the port after several previous interruptions in service occurred when WSDA inspectors were ordered by WSDA officials to cease inspections.
“To our knowledge, this latest announcement by a designated state agency declining to provide official services is unprecedented,” the groups wrote in their letter to Vilsack.
“We believe WSDA’s actions create an extremely troubling precedent that will cause irreparable damage to the integrity and reliability of the nation’s official grain inspection system.”
The organizations also cited the “uncertainty” already created within the U.S. grain export industry, as well as among U.S. agricultural producers and international buyers of U.S. commodities, regarding potential future disruptions of official services at facilities operating at other U.S. export ports.
“The disruptions that already have occurred have put at risk the United States’ reputation as a reliable supplier of grains and oilseeds to foreign customers,” the groups wrote.
“In the absence of WSDA’s reliable performance of its duties, FGIS [Federal Grain Inspection Service] must intervene and make the necessary arrangements to provide the mandatory official (inspection) services.”
A USDA source said officials hope to have a response to the industry within the week.
▪ Letter to Vilsack on Port of Washington grain inspection service
The National Grain and Feed Association on Tuesday made public a July 14 letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in which 22 national, regional and state agricultural producer, commodity and agribusiness organizations have urged USDA to restore the services which have been stopped due to a strike.
USDA’s Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) has designated the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) to provide official grain inspection and weighing services at the Port of Vancouver, but on July 1 WSDA posted a notice that it would no longer provide the service effective July 7.
The port is being picketed by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) as part of a labor dispute.
In the July 1 notice, the director of WSDA’s grain inspection program stated the belief that the “continued provision of inspection services appears to have been unhelpful in leading to any foreseeable resolution” of the dispute, NGFA noted in its news release.
NGFA also noted that several of the organizations had met last October with GIPSA Administrator Larry Mitchell and other USDA officials to urge that the agency prepare contingency plans to ensure an “immediate and effective” program to continue official services at the port after several previous interruptions in service occurred when WSDA inspectors were ordered by WSDA officials to cease inspections.
“To our knowledge, this latest announcement by a designated state agency declining to provide official services is unprecedented,” the groups wrote in their letter to Vilsack.
“We believe WSDA’s actions create an extremely troubling precedent that will cause irreparable damage to the integrity and reliability of the nation’s official grain inspection system.”
The organizations also cited the “uncertainty” already created within the U.S. grain export industry, as well as among U.S. agricultural producers and international buyers of U.S. commodities, regarding potential future disruptions of official services at facilities operating at other U.S. export ports.
“The disruptions that already have occurred have put at risk the United States’ reputation as a reliable supplier of grains and oilseeds to foreign customers,” the groups wrote.
“In the absence of WSDA’s reliable performance of its duties, FGIS [Federal Grain Inspection Service] must intervene and make the necessary arrangements to provide the mandatory official (inspection) services.”
A USDA source said officials hope to have a response to the industry within the week.
▪ Letter to Vilsack on Port of Washington grain inspection service
