The U.S. government officially shut down today after lawmakers were unable to overcome a budgetary impasse to keep federal funding in place for the new fiscal year. The full effect of this shutdown is still unknown, but many agencies have released operational contingency plans, which can be found below.
Department of Agriculture – USDA’s official grain inspection and weighing services, delivery of official phytosanitary certificates, and food safety inspection services will remain operational. Commodity price and transportation market reports, which are produced by the Agricultural Marketing Service and used by producers and traders for timely market information, will also continue without interruption. The Farm Service Agency and National Resource Conservation Service will slow operations, delaying farmer payments. National Agricultural Statistics Services reports and Economic Research Service products will be suspended. The Foreign Agricultural Service has furloughed most of its staff but expects trade missions to continue.
Further, the 2020 U.S. Grain Standards Act Reauthorization expired on Sep. 30. Though the reauthorization is not extended, the Federal Grain Inspection Service will still be able to conduct its core activities. However, they do not have the authority for an advisory committee to meet or to charge delegated states and designated official agencies for supervisory and administrative costs.
Department of Labor – OSHA will continue only its essential functions, including inspections of imminent dangers, workplace fatalities, and serious uncorrected violations. It will also review whistleblower complaints tied to urgent safety threats and carry out enforcement actions needed to meet statutory deadlines in cases involving high risks of death or serious harm.
Food and Drug Administration – FDA will continue operations funded by carryover fees and activities tied to imminent threats to human health, including drug regulation, foodborne illness response, recalls, and critical inspections. However, the Animal Drugs and Foods Program will halt pre-market safety reviews of new livestock feed ingredients, limiting oversight to only urgent threats to human safety.
Commodity Futures Trading Commission (download) – CFTC will stop almost all agency operations except core functions needed to protect property and preserve market integrity, such as monitoring derivatives markets, clearinghouses, and intermediaries, as well as handling urgent litigation and cybersecurity. Most enforcement, market oversight, rulemaking, and reporting activities would cease until funding is restored.
Surface Transportation Board – STB will furlough nearly all staff, retaining just two employees to handle only essential, legally required emergency functions. All regular case processing, regulatory filings, hearings, and public procedures will be suspended.
United States Trade Representative – At this time, it is our understanding that the USTR will not furlough any of its full-time employees and will continue its efforts to negotiate new trade agreements. NGFA is awaiting confirmation.
NGFA will continue collecting information on the shutdown’s potential implications for the grain and feed industry and will be providing information to the relevant NGFA committees and membership as warranted.
If you have questions in the meantime, please feel free to contact Allison Rivera, NGFA’s Vice President of Government and Legislative Affairs, at [email protected] or 980-328-5132.
