[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 93 (Monday, May 15, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30943-30945]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-10250]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Foreign Agricultural Service


Notice of Request for a Revision of a Currently Approved 
Information Collection

AGENCY: Foreign Agricultural Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 
notice seeks comments on a proposed revision to the currently approved 
information collection in support of the Export Sales Reporting 
program. Specifically, FAS requests public comments regarding whether 
the collection of the proposed contract by contract information, rather 
than aggregated sales information, will help improve the timeliness and 
reliability of the data in USDA's Export Sales Reports; the accuracy of 
the agency's estimate of the burden of the collection of information 
including validity of the methodology and assumption used; ways to 
enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; 
and ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
those who are to report, including through the use of automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology.

DATES: Comments should be submitted no later than July 14, 2023 to be 
assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: You may send comments, identified by the OMB Control number 
0551-0007, by any of the following methods:

[[Page 30944]]

     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
     Email: [email protected]. Include OMB Control number 0551-
0007 in the subject line of the message.
     Mail, Courier, or Hand Delivery: Amy Harding, U.S. 
Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service, 1400 
Independence Avenue SW, Room 5531, Washington, DC 20250.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency 
names and OMB Control Number for this notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amy Harding, 202-720-3538, 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Export Sales Reporting Program of U. S. Agricultural 
Commodities.
    OMB Number: 0551-0007.
    Expiration Date of Approval: October 31, 2023.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved information 
collection.
    Abstract: Section 602 of the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978, as 
amended, (7 U.S.C. 5712) requires the reporting of information 
pertaining to contracts for export sale of certain specified 
agricultural commodities that may be designated by the Secretary of 
Agriculture. In accordance with Section 602, individual reports 
submitted shall remain confidential and shall be compiled and published 
in compilation form each week following the week of reporting. 
Regulations at 7 CFR part 20 provide the reporting requirements and 
prescribe a system for reporting information pertaining to contracts 
for export sales.
    USDA's electronic reporting system for the collection of 
information on export sales, also known as the Export Sales Reporting 
and Maintenance System (ESRMS), was created after the large, unexpected 
purchase of U.S. wheat and corn by the Soviet Union in 1972. To ensure 
that all parties involved in the production and export of U.S. grain 
have access to up-to-date export information, the U.S. Congress 
mandated an export sales reporting requirement in 1973. Prior to the 
establishment of the ESRMS, it was difficult for the public to obtain 
information on export sales activity until the actual shipments had 
taken place. This frequently resulted in considerable delay in the 
availability of market information.
    Under the ESRMS, U.S. exporters may be required to report daily to 
the Foreign Agricultural Service information with respect to sales of 
agricultural commodities as requested. Such daily reports are to be 
made no later than 3:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) on the next business day 
after the sale is made. Currently, large sales of certain designated 
grains, oilseeds and oilseed products are required to be reported 
daily. The designated commodities for these daily reports are wheat (by 
class), barley, corn, grain sorghum, oats, soybeans, soybean cake and 
meal, and soybean oil. Large sales for all above designated commodities 
except soybean oil are defined as 100,000 metric tons or more of one 
commodity sold in one day to a single destination or 200,000 tons or 
more of one commodity sold to one destination during the weekly 
reporting period. Large sales for soybean oil are 20,000 metric tons or 
more sold in one day to one destination or 40,000 metric tons or more 
sold to one destination during any reporting week.
    Weekly reports are also required, regardless of the size of the 
sales transaction, for all these commodities, as well as wheat 
products, rye, flaxseed, linseed oil, sunflower seed oil, cotton (by 
staple length), cottonseed, cottonseed cake and meal, cottonseed oil, 
rice (by class), cattle hides and skins (including cattle, calf, and 
kip), cattle wet blues, beef, and pork. The reporting week for the 
ESRMS is Friday-Thursday. The Secretary of Agriculture has the 
authority to add other commodities to this list.
    U.S. exporters currently provide information on the quantity of 
their sales transactions, the type and class of commodity, the 
marketing year of shipment, the destination, and shipment information 
to include vessel name, quantity shipped, and bill of lading date for 
bulk shipments of wheat, corn, soybeans, barley and sorghum, among 
other things. They also report any changes in previously reported 
information, such as cancellations and changes in destinations.
    The ESRMS currently requires exporters to manually upload the 
required data for Export Sales using form FAS 98. In addition, 
exporters are required to submit form FAS 97 to report Optional Origin 
Sales and related transactions and form FAS 100 to report Exports Made 
for Exporters Own Account and related transactions. Reports of contract 
terms shall be filed when requested, typically quarterly and annually, 
on form FAS-99, ``Contract Terms Supporting Export Sales and Foreign 
Purchases,'' and shall include the following:
    (1) Reporting exporter's contract number.
    (2) Date of export sale or purchase.
    (3) Name of foreign buyer or foreign seller.
    (4) Delivery period specified in the export sale or purchase.
    (5) Delivery terms specified in the export sale or purchase 
(F.O.B., C. & F., etc.).
    (6) Actual quantity of the export sale or purchase.
    (7) Quantity not exported against the sale or foreign purchase (do 
not include any tolerance).
    (8) Country of destination.
    (9) On purchases from foreign sellers, show separately from export 
sales all items of this paragraph.
    ESRMS is being upgraded for the first time in over a decade. A 
business process re-engineering approach was used to analyze and re-
design the functionalities and workflows of ESRMS and the Export Sales 
Reporting (ESR) Query System from the ground up. Processes are being 
re-structured to improve data quality and operational efficiency. The 
re-design provides a single automated and consolidated system for all, 
exporters, users, and USDA staff, to meet mission critical objectives 
unlike the current systems which are separated into two applications, 
one for exporters and USDA staff, and another for external users.
    The new ESRMS proposes to collect contract-specific sales and 
export data. The additional data reported will improve USDA's ability 
to monitor and enforce compliance with reporting requirements and 
improve the overall quality, reliability, timeliness, and 
trustworthiness of the data. Contract-specific data will help USDA 
reconcile export sales reporting with other USDA reports and Customs' 
export data. Additionally, the contract data will improve USDA's 
ability to validate the accuracy of reported sales and help identify 
errant or missing sales and export data.
    Although requiring contract-specific reports will increase the 
number of entries that each exporter submits, the new ESRMS will 
include an electronic data transfer option allowing exporters a bulk 
electronic upload option for their export sales contract information 
via pre-designed CSV or JSON files. The upload of export sales contract 
information, rather than aggregate sales, provides the basic 
information needed to track export sales from inception to export. The 
new ESRMS is open for user testing for those registered exporters who 
want to experience the usability of the new system at https://esrms.fas.usda.gov/. This bulk electronic data transfer of export sales 
contract data will replace form FAS-99 Rev. 11-01,

[[Page 30945]]

Contract Terms Supporting Export Sales and Foreign Purchases, thus 
creating a time savings later in the year. The new form to be used for 
weekly Export Sales, Optional Origin Sales, and Export for Exporters 
Own Account Sales is titled ``FAS-ESR Contract Data Upload form.'' A 
copy of the form is provided with this package.
    In addition to the data currently required to be submitted, FAS 
proposes to require data on the following for all commodities reported:
    (1) Contract terms (FAS, FOB C&F, etc.) including volumes, 
destinations, buyers, and dates,
    (2) Mode of transportation (e.g., ship, rail, truck, & container),
    (3) Mode of transportation identifier (e.g., vessel name, rail 
name, trucking company name), and
    (4) Bill of Lading date.
    While an initial increase in exporter administrative activity 
associated with the addition of specific contract information via the 
``FAS-ESR Contract Data Upload form'' is anticipated, the reporting 
burden is expected to decline as export companies complete any 
necessary modifications to their systems to allow their export sales 
data to be transferred to the new ESRMS via the bulk upload option 
using CSV or JSON files.
    In the case of daily exports above the specified volumes, nothing 
will change. Exporters will continue to report daily sales using the 
existing procedures by sending a WORD document to the Export Sales 
staff as is currently required.
    Along with the FAS-ESR Contract Data Upload form, new electronic 
data transfer forms for contract adjustments, exports, and shipment 
information have been developed to ultimately decrease the exporters' 
burden hours involved with entry of records into the new ESRMS. These 
electronic data entry forms have been designed to reflect reporting 
transaction types for export sales activities, optional origin 
activities, and exports for exporters own account activities and 
replace the need for forms FAS-97 Rev. 11-01, FAS-98 Rev. 11-01, and 
FAS-100 Rev. 11-01. The proposed new forms include the following:

 FAS-ESR New Contracts (Items 20, 110, 210)
 FAS-ESR Contract Adjustments (Items 20, 40, 50, 110, 150, 240)
 FAS-ESR Weekly Exports (Items 60, 230)
 FAS-ESR Optional Origin Sales (Item 140)

    Copies of the forms are provided with this package.
    FAS held six open demonstrations of the upgraded ESRMS throughout 
January, February, and March 2023, for exporters. The electronic data 
transfer processes were presented and explained thoroughly. Additional 
demonstrations, virtual training, and user acceptance testing will be 
held throughout the second and third quarters of fiscal year 2023. 
Participation in training and testing will assist responders to 
adequately estimate the burden of reporting the requested information.
    The estimated total annual burden may temporarily increase while 
exporters are familiarizing themselves with the upgrades to ESRMS but 
then is expected to decline as they take advantage of automated 
uploading of information.
    Estimate of Burden: The average burden, including the time for 
reviewing instructions, gathering data needed, completing forms, and 
record keeping is estimated to average 30 minutes once the exporters 
are familiar with the new system and the bulk upload option.
    Respondents: All exporters of wheat and wheat flour, feed grains, 
oilseeds, cotton, rice, cattle hides and skins, beef, pork, and any 
products thereof, and other commodities that the Secretary may 
designate as produced in the United States.
    Estimated number of respondents: 416.
    Estimated Annual Number of Responses per Respondent: 215.
    Estimated Total Annual Reporting Burden: 44,720 hours.
    Copies of this information collection can be obtained from Dacia 
Rogers, the Agency Information Collection Coordinator, at 
[email protected].
    Request for Comments: Send comments regarding (a) whether the 
proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper 
performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the 
information will have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 
agency's estimate of the burden of the collection of information 
including validity of the methodology and assumption used; (c) ways to 
enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be 
collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of 
information on those who are to report, including through the use of 
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.
    All comments received in response to this notice, including names 
and addresses when provided, will be a matter of public record. 
Comments will be available without change, including any personal 
information provided, for inspection online at https://www.regulations.gov and at the mail address listed above between 8 a.m. 
and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays.
    Comments will be summarized and included in the submission for OMB 
approval.
    Persons with disabilities who require an alternative means for 
communication of information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) 
should contact [email protected].

Daniel Whitley,
Administrator, Foreign Agricultural Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-10250 Filed 5-12-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-10-P