Technical Difficulties for Weekly Export Sales Reporting

Last week, the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service launched a new Export Sales Reporting and Maintenance System. This is a system through which U.S. exporters are required by law to report any sales transactions with buyers outside the U.S. for many key commodities.  The information collected through the system is aggregated and reported to the public each week by the FAS.  

During the launch, FAS encountered challenges that affected the physical dissemination of the data as well as the data quality.  As a result, the agency took the system offline and retracted the weekly export sales information that was passed out last week.  Data integrity, credibility, and transparency are top priorities for FAS, and the timely and accurate reporting of agricultural export sales data is vital to effectively-functioning markets.

FAS said it recognized the disruption and took steps immediately to rectify the situation, adding the department intends to resolve the problems as soon as possible.

If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail glenn.vaagen@townsquaremedia.com