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USDA's Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) is reviewing U.S. Standards for Wheat for possible changes. GIPSA, which is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), also directs the work of the Federal Grain Inspection Service, or FGIS.
"We want to make sure the wheat standards retain relevancy in the marketplace,” said GIPSA’s Patrick McCluskey. To do that, GIPSA seeks comments from wheat industry stakeholders and after reviewing input from its customers and other sources U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) recently responded to the agency’s request for comments.
Among its suggestions, USW proposed changes that would make it easier for country elevators to segregate hard white (HW) wheat, add more restrictive standards for black tip fungal damage, and tighten grade requirement for “shrunken and broken kernels” in top quality U.S. wheat.
USW strongly considered customer input in making its recommendations. For example, some importers have expressed interest in purchasing pre-blended classes that would currently result in FGIS issuing a “Mixed Wheat” certificate, which may not be desirable to some importers. USW suggested that FGIS attempt to develop a method to allow uniform blending of U.S. wheat classes, with the classes appropriately identified on the Official Export Grain Inspection Certificate.
GIPSA is now evaluating the public comments and, if it determines there is a need for specific changes, will follow federal rules moving forward. Any changes that result from the review likely will not be made for about two years.
USW’s complete comments are posted in the Online edition of Wheat Letter (www.uswheat.org).
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