Senate committee presses for timely reauthorization and technology upgrades to U.S. Grain Standards Act

The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry convened a hearing to consider reauthorizing the U.S. Grain Standards Act, which witnesses said is set to expire in September and underpins official inspection and weighing of U.S. grain exports.

The hearing drew testimony from industry and inspection representatives who urged Congress to modernize inspection technology, clarify emergency-waiver authority, and strengthen the advisory process that informs the Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS). “The U.S. grain inspection system has long set a global benchmark for quality and reliability,” said Nick Friant, director of raw material quality and regulatory at Cargill and chairman of the National Grain and Feed Association’s grain grades and weights committee.

The statute’s role and why it matters

Witnesses described the official USDA inspection certificate as the commercial foundation for U.S. grain trade. Kia Mickish, president of the American Association of Grain Inspection and Weighing Agencies and vice president of North Dakota Grain Inspection, told the committee that the export-inspection mandate “underlies official inspection, but it also allows a uniform voluntary inspection system to provide trust in U.S. grain.” Senators and witnesses said that without timely…