Red Anjou US Northwest pears

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has invited public comment on proposed changes to the Facility Guarantee Program that would expand programme coverage and streamline the application process, enhancing its ability to support US agricultural exports.

The Facility Guarantee Program is designed to boost sales of US agricultural products in countries where demand may be limited due to inadequate storage, processing, handling or distribution capabilities.

The programme provides credit guarantees to help finance the establishment or improvement of agriculture-related facilities and related activities, as well as the procurement of goods or services to help facilitate importation of US products.

Under the programme, the Commodity Credit Corporation reduces the financial risk to lenders by guaranteeing payments due from approved foreign banks to US exporters or financial institutions.

This proposed rule would revise the application process to reduce burden on participants, with USDA expanding its role in demonstrating a benefit to US agricultural commodity exports.

USDA would also offer an initial 'letter of interest' stage during which participants could receive preliminary feedback from USDA on a proposed transaction or project. The proposed rule would also allow for coverage of non-US goods if USDA determines that US goods are not available or their use is not practical. It would also incorporate programme modifications recently implemented in the GSM-102 Export Credit Guarantee Program.