GRAIN INSPECTION, PACKERS AND STOCKYARDS ADMINISTRATION

Purpose Statement

The mission of the Grain Inspection. Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) is to facilitate the marketing of livestock, poultry, meat, cereals, oilseeds, and related agricultural products, and promote fair and competitive trading practices for the overall benefit of consumers and American agriculture. GIPSA works to accomplish this mission by administering and carrying out varied service and regulatory responsibilities. Approximately fifty-nine percent of the funds needed to finance GIPSA activities are derived from mandatory and discretionary user fees. The remaining activities are funded through appropriations.

GIPSA is comprised of two major activities: Grain Inspection and Packers and
Stockyards.

GRAIN INSPECTION ACTIVITIES

The Grain Inspection program is comprised of four key activities:

(1) Standardization. (2) Compliance, (3) Methods Development, and (4) Grain Inspection and Weighing Services.

1. Standardization:

Standardization activities are carried out under authority of the United States Grain Standards Act, as amended (USGSA), and the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (AMA), and are funded by appropriations. Standardization includes developing, establishing, and maintaining uniform grain and commodity standards: developing and maintaining quality control, and quality assurance; and. related testing and training. These activities aid in the orderly marketing of grains, oilseeds, rice, and related commodities through the development, promulgation. and application of new and revised standards. The latest inspection techniques and the operation of a nationwide quality control program are employed to ensure the integrity of inspection certificates.

2. Compliance:

Compliance activities are funded by appropriations and are carried out under authority of the USGSA and AMA. These activities ensure that the operations conform with all requirements and procedures established by statute, regulation. instruction, or directive. Enforcement activities include reviews, evaluations. investigations and the assessment of civil penalties. Criminal violations are referred to the Office of the Inspector General for appropriate action.

Compliance activities also include an international monitoring program which responds to our international customers' complaints regarding the quality and/or quantity of U.S. grain shipped abroad.

3. Methods Development:

Methods Development activities are carried out under the authority of the

GRAIN INSPECTION, PACKERS AND STOCKYARDS ADMINISTRATION

USGSA and the AMA. The activities include applied research or tests that produce new or improved techniques for measuring grain quality. These activities are funded through appropriations under the authority of the USGSA and AMA. Examples of the wide range of methods development activities carried out by GIPSA include research into establishing the framework for real-time grain inspection; developing reference methods to maintain consistency and standardization in the grain inspection system: comparing various techniques for evaluating end-use quality in wheat; developing a new wheat classification system; evaluating prototype wheat hardness meters; and adapting or developing measurement techniques for pesticides, mycotoxins, heavy metals, vitamins, and grain odor.

4. Grain Inspection and Weighing Activities:

This program is authorized under both the USGSA and the AMA. The USGSA requires the mandatory inspection and weighing of grain at export ports by GIPSA or delegated State agency personnel, and the permissive inspection and weighing of grain at domestic locations by designated State and private agency personnel. The USGSA also requires GIPSA to supervise all official inspection and weighing activities. On a request basis. GIPSA performs inspection of rice and related commodities under the AMA. Both statutes require GIPSA to collect user fees to fund the costs of operations including the supervision and administration of Federal grain inspection and weighing activities.

PACKERS AND STOCKYARDS ACTIVITIES

The Packers and Stockyards activities are authorized by the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921, as amended, and Section 1324 of the Food Security Act of 1985. These activities are funded through appropriations. GIPSA's principal purpose is to ensure the integrity of the livestock, meat, and poultry markets and the marketplace. This includes fostering fair and open competition, and guarding against deceptive and fraudulent practices affecting the movement and price of meat animals and their products. The Agency's work also aims to protect consumers and members of the livestock. meat, and poultry industries from unfair business practices which can unduly affect meat and poultry distribution and prices.

The Food Security Act of 1985 permits the States to establish central filing systems to notify buyers. commission merchants, and selling agents of security interests against farm products. It is GIPSA's responsibility to issue regulations for and certify those systems that meet the criteria in the statute.

GIPSA headquarters is located in Washington. D.C.. with field activities located in 25 field offices and 2 Federal/State offices in 21 States and Canada. As of September 30. 1998, employment totaled 719 full-time permanent employees and 57 parttime or intermittent employees. Of the total. 119 full-time employees and 3 parttime or intermittent employees were located in headquarters while the remaining 600 full-time employees and 54 part-time or intermittent employees were assigned to field locations. User-fee supported activities accounted for 58 percent of total Agency spending in FY 1998.