An Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer

Agricultural

Marketing

Service 

Federal Grain Inspection 

Service

Field Management 

Division 

1400 Independence Ave. 

SW, Stop 3630

Washington, D.C. 20250

Voice (202) 720-0228

Fax (202) 690-3951

Hotline 1-800-998-3447

Reference #290 January 26, 2022

TO: FGIS EXPORT FIELD OFFICES, DELEGATED STATES

FROM: Anthony Goodeman, Director

 Field Management Division 

SUBJECT: New Instruction for Entering Export Shiplot Data into DEC

ORIGINATING OFFICE: Policies, Procedures, and Market Analysis Branch

1. PURPOSE

This policy presents the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for 

ensuring all export shiplot data is entered into DEC in a timelier 

manner. The current process of transmitting data from FGISonlineITW to the Domestic / Export Counts (DEC) application of FGISonline

requires a certification clerk to manually push the “938” button in the 

FGISonline-CRT application Inspection Inbox. FGIS is implementing 

this policy in order to establish greater confidence in FGIS’ export 

inspection data. 

2. BACKGROUND

This is a new policy. Effective February 1, 2022, FGIS management 

will implement a pathway allowing the transmission of ship log data to 

occur automatically in DEC at the time it transmits from ITW to CRT. 

FGISonline will deactivate the “938” button so it is “grayed out” and 

unusable when records already exist in DEC. Certification clerks will 

follow the instructions given in the PROCEDURES section. 

3. PROCEDURES

• Record Verification: The DEC Verifying staff must complete their

tasks no later than 2359 local time Friday, or 2359 local time 

Sunday if working weekends, so the data can be moved to 

History (and reported to AMS-Market News) by no later than 

0830 Monday.
Page 2

• Certification Changes: If a certificate record needs to be changed in ITW (e.g., 

change in factor, destination, carrier, etc.), after its associated DEC record has 

been moved to history, the Inspection log record goes back to ITW to make the 

change. (Moisture basis, min/max, fumigation, etc., are items which cannot pull 

from ITW logs, and must be manually entered, as they are text fields on the log.) 

o When the change is completed and the Inspection log record is transferred 

back to CRT from ITW to be certified, a duplicate record will be created in 

DEC 

o New DEC Record: The new DEC record will display a DUPLICATE label. The 

Verifying clerk will need to manually delete the DUPLICATE record after 

verifying if notification to PPMAB is necessary 

o If the certification change affects the DEC record in History, the DEC Verifying

staff member must contact PPMAB before deleting the DEC record 

o PPMAB will make the needed change in DEC History and contact FGISonline 

if the change affects billing (i.e., changes to date, quantity of carriers or 

weight, service point, or applicant of service, etc.)

If the certification change occurs prior to the DEC record moving to History, the Verifying 

clerk can make the change. All related records input into DEC will be deleted if a log is 

rejected. 

Note: It is of paramount importance that DEC records are verified in 

a timely manner, meaning no later than 2359 local time Friday or 2359 

local time Sunday if working weekends. Even though records have 

been synced and pushed to DEC, it does not mean they have been 

verified. Records that are unverified become late records and are 

published in a corrections report, resulting in stakeholder concerns 

about data integrity.

4. FILING INSTRUCTIONS

Field office managers must ensure that a copy of this memorandum is available to 

official agencies providing export shiplot inspection services.

 

5. QUESTIONS

Direct any questions regarding this procedure to the local field office or to 

AMS - FGIS Policies Procedures and Market Analysis Branch.