Title: Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Reform Act
Policy area: Agriculture and Food

Summary:
Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Reform Act
This bill revises reporting requirements, allows increased civil penalties for failure to report or knowingly reporting misleading information, and otherwise modifies provisions related to foreign investment in agricultural lands within the United States.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8522 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8522

To amend the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 to 
 increase oversight and enforcement with respect to foreign investment 
in agricultural lands within the United States, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 2, 2020

 Mr. Pocan (for himself and Mr. San Nicolas) introduced the following 
        bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 to 
 increase oversight and enforcement with respect to foreign investment 
in agricultural lands within the United States, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Agricultural Foreign Investment 
Disclosure Reform Act''.

SEC. 2. ANNUAL REPORTS TO THE SECRETARY.

    Section 2(b) of the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act 
of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 3501(b)) is amended, in the matter preceding 
paragraph (1), by striking ``agricultural land'' and all that follows 
through ``effective date.'' and inserting the following: ``agricultural 
land on the day before the date of the enactment of the Agricultural 
Foreign Investment Disclosure Reform Act shall, beginning 180 days 
after such date of enactment, and annually thereafter, submit to the 
Secretary a report.''.

SEC. 3. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.

    The Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 is 
amended by inserting after section 4 (7 U.S.C. 3503) the following:

``SEC. 5. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.

    ``(a) Beginning 180 days after the date of the enactment of the 
Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Reform Act, and annually 
thereafter, the Secretary shall, using information obtained under 
section 2, submit to the Congress a report on foreign investment in 
agricultural land in the United States.
    ``(b) Beginning 90 days after the date of the enactment of the 
Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Reform Act, the Secretary 
shall, using information obtained under section 2, publish on the 
internet website of the Department of Agriculture, and update every 90 
days thereafter, a database listing the agricultural lands owned by 
foreign persons. Such listing shall be limited to the information 
described in paragraphs (1), (3), (4), (5), and (7) of section 2(b).
    ``(c)(1) Not later than 90 days after the end of each covered 
period, the Secretary shall--
                    ``(A) analyze information obtained by the Secretary 
                under section 2 and determine the effects of foreign 
                persons acquiring, transferring, and holding 
                agricultural land, particularly the effects of such 
                acquisitions, transfers, and holdings on family farms 
                and rural communities; and
                    ``(B) transmit to the President and each House of 
                the Congress a report on the Secretary's findings and 
                conclusions regarding--
                            ``(i) each analysis and determination made 
                        under paragraph (1); and
                            ``(ii) the effectiveness and efficiency of 
                        the reporting requirements contained in section 
                        2 in providing the information required to be 
                        reported by such section.
    ``(2) In this subsection, the term `covered period' means each of 
the following periods:
            ``(A) The 10-year period beginning on the date of the 
        enactment of Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Reform 
        Act.
            ``(B) Each 10-year period thereafter.''.

SEC. 4. CIVIL PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO REPORT OR MISREPORTING.

    Section 3(b) of the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act 
of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 3502(b)) is amended by striking ``, except that such 
amount shall not exceed 25 percent of the fair market value, on the 
date of the assessment of such penalty, of the interest in agricultural 
land with respect to which such violation occurred''.

SEC. 5. CLARIFICATION OF FOREIGN PERSON DEFINITION.

    (a) In General.--Section 9(3)(C)(ii) of the Agricultural Foreign 
Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 3508(3)(C)(ii)) is amended, 
in the matter preceding subclause (I), by striking ``a significant 
interest or substantial control'' and inserting ``not less than 25-
percent interest or not less than 25-percent control''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply beginning with the first report submitted under section 2 of the 
Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 3501) 
after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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