I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1511

To amend the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 to promote and expand the

export of agricultural commodities and products to foreign countries,

and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 29, 1993

Mr. ROBERTS (for himself, Mr. SMITH of Oregon, Mr. ALLARD, Mr. EMERSON, Mr. BARRETT of Nebraska, and Mr. BEREUTER) introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the Committees on Agriculture

and Foreign Affairs

A BILL

To amend the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 to promote

and expand the export of agricultural commodities and

products to foreign countries, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 That this Act may be cited as the ‘‘Agricultural Commod4 ity Export Expansion Act of 1993’’.

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

6 The Congress finds that—

7 (1) agricultural commodity exports are essential

8 to the economic well-being of the United States
2

HR 1511 IH

1 farmers and ranchers and related industries and to

2 the entire United States economy;

3 (2) the United States exports the commodity

4 production from one-third of its harvested acreage,

5 worth over $40,000,000,000 in exports, and one mil6 lion Americans in the United States labor force de7 pend on agricultural commodity exports for their

8 jobs;

9 (3) the newly-formed Republics of the former

10 Soviet Union are struggling to put in place the insti11 tutions of democratic government and free market

12 economies and have great need to import agricul13 tural commodities and products to sustain that ef14 fort and achieve any measure of success;

15 (4) the former Soviet Union has been the larg16 est importer of United States grain and the new Re17 publics represent an important market in the future

18 for United States agricultural commodities and

19 products;

20 (5) the virtual cessation in recent months of

21 United States agricultural exports to the Republics

22 of the former Soviet Union has created an adverse

23 impact on the markets for the commodities held by

24 United States agricultural producers and is esti-
3

HR 1511 IH

1 mated to result in a $1,300,000,000 addition to the

2 United States deficit if not reversed;

3 (6) the abundant natural resources of the Re4 publics of the former Soviet Union and the capacity

5 to produce revenues through the development of

6 those resources provide assurance of their ability to

7 repay direct loans and loan guarantees extended by

8 the United States for the export of agricultural com9 modities and products within a reasonable time; and

10 (7) in addition to the authority to provide direct

11 loans and credit guarantees and in order to develop,

12 maintain, and expand foreign markets for United

13 States agricultural products under the Agricultural

14 Trade Act of 1978, the Secretary of Agriculture—

15 (A) has been provided the authority to in16 stitute a program in which agricultural com17 modities and products may be provided to im18 porting countries through barter in exchange

19 for foreign products from such importing coun20 tries;

21 (B) may initiate a variation of the Export

22 Enhancement Program, the Dairy Export In23 centive Program, and the Sunflower Oil Assist24 ance Program that allows sales to third-country

25 buyers for commodities destined to the Repub-
4

HR 1511 IH

1 lics of the former Soviet Union wherein such

2 buyers are also third-country purchasers of

3 goods exported from the Republics of the

4 former Soviet Union and such buyers rely on

5 compensatory forms of trade such as barter,

6 countertrade, offset arrangements and escrow

7 accounts to be eligible for U.S. Department of

8 Agriculture trade program bonuses; and

9 (C) may initiate a program through which

10 payment for United States agricultural com11 modities can be made by recipient countries

12 based on the future sales of their abundant nat13 ural resources.

14 SEC. 3. RESTRICTIONS FOR DIRECT LOANS.

15 Section 201(f) of the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978

16 (7 U.S.C. 5621(f)) is amended to read as follows—

17 ‘‘(f) RESTRICTIONS.—In determining whether to

18 make export sales financing authorized under this section

19 available in connection with sales of agricultural commod20 ities, the Commodity Credit Corporation shall take into

21 account—

22 ‘‘(1) the credit needs of countries that are po23 tential purchasers of United States agricultural ex24 ports;
5

HR 1511 IH

1 ‘‘(2) the long-term repayment ability of such

2 countries; and

3 ‘‘(3) whether the availability of Commodity

4 Credit Corporation financing will maintain or im5 prove the competitive position of the United States

6 agricultural exports in world markets.’’.

7 SEC. 4. RESTRICTIONS FOR CREDIT GUARANTEES.

8 Section 202(f) of the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978

9 (7 U.S.C. 5622(f)) is amended to read as follows—

10 ‘‘(f) RESTRICTIONS.—In determining whether to

11 make credit guarantees available in connection with sales

12 of agricultural commodities under this section, the Com13 modity Credit Corporation shall take into account—

14 ‘‘(1) the credit needs of countries that are po15 tential purchasers of United States agricultural ex16 ports;

17 ‘‘(2) the long-term repayment ability of such

18 countries; and

19 ‘‘(3) whether the availability of Commodity

20 Credit Corporation guarantees will maintain or im21 prove the competitive position of the United States

22 agricultural exports in world markets.’’.

Æ