§1241f. Shipment requirements for certain exports sponsored by Department of Agriculture

(a) Minimum requirement respecting gross tonnage transported in United States-flag commercial vessels; implementation

(1) In addition to the requirement for United States-flag carriage of a percentage of gross tonnage imposed by section 1241(b)(1) of this Appendix, 25 percent of the gross tonnage of agricultural commodities or the products thereof specified in subsection (b) of this section shall be transported on United States-flag commercial vessels.

(2) In order to achieve an orderly and efficient implementation of the requirement of paragraph (1)-

(A) an additional quantity equal to 10 percent of the gross tonnage referred to in paragraph (1) shall be transported in United States-flag vessels in calendar year 1986;

(B) an additional quantity equal to 20 percent of the gross tonnage shall be transported in such vessels in calendar year 1987; and

(C) an additional quantity equal to 25 percent of the gross tonnage shall be transported in such vessels in calendar year 1988 and in each calendar year thereafter.

(b) Covered export activity

This section shall apply to any export activity of the Commodity Credit Corporation or the Secretary of Agriculture-

(1) carried out under the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 (7 U.S.C. 1691 et seq.);

(2) carried out under section 416 of the Agricultural Act of 1949 (7 U.S.C. 1431);

(3) carried out under the Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust Act [7 U.S.C. 1736f–1];

(4) under which agricultural commodities or the products thereof are-

(A) donated through foreign governments or agencies, private or public, including intergovernmental organizations; or

(B) sold for foreign currencies or for dollars on credit terms of more than ten years;

(5) under which agricultural commodities or the products thereof are made available for emergency food relief at less than prevailing world market prices;

(6) under which a cash grant is made directly or through an intermediary to a foreign purchaser for the purpose of enabling the purchaser to obtain United States agricultural commodities or the products thereof in an amount greater than the difference between the prevailing world market price and the United States market price, free along side vessel at United States port; or

(7) under which agricultural commodities owned or controlled by or under loan from the Commodity Credit Corporation are exchanged or bartered for materials, goods, equipment, or services produced in foreign countries, other than export activities described in section 1241e(5) of this Appendix.

(c) Terms and conditions

(1) The requirement for United States-flag transportation imposed by subsection (a) of this section shall be subject to the same terms and conditions as provided in section 1241(b) of this Appendix.

(2) In order to provide for effective and equitable administration of the cargo preference laws the calendar year for the purpose of compliance with minimum percentage requirements shall be for 12 month periods commencing April 1, 1986.

(3)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), in administering sections 1241(b) and 1241f of this Appendix, and, subject to subparagraph (B) of this paragraph, consistent with those sections, the Commodity Credit Corporation shall take such steps as may be necessary and practicable without detriment to any port range to allocate, on the principle of lowest landed cost without regard to the country of documentation of the vessel, 25 percent of the bagged, processed, or fortified commodities furnished pursuant to title II of the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 [7 U.S.C. 1721 et seq.].

(B) In carrying out this paragraph, there shall first be calculated the allocation of 100 percent of the quantity to be procured on an overall lowest landed cost basis without regard to the country of documentation of the vessel and there shall be allocated to the Great Lakes port range any cargoes for which it has the lowest landed cost under that calculation. The requirements for United States-flag transportation under section 1241(b) of this Appendix and this section shall not apply to commodities allocated under subparagraph (A) to the Great Lakes port range, and commodities allocated under subparagraph (A) to that port range may not be reallocated or diverted to another port range to meet those requirements to the extent that the total tonnage of commodities to which subparagraph (A) applies that is furnished and transported from the Great Lakes port range is less than 25 percent of the total annual tonnage of such commodities furnished.

(C) In awarding any contract for the transportation by vessel of commodities from the Great Lakes port range pursuant to an export activity referred to in subsection (b) of this section, each agency or instrumentality-

(i) shall consider expressions of freight interest for any vessel from a vessel operator who meets reasonable requirements for financial and operational integrity; and

(ii) may not deny award of the contract to a person based on the type of vessel on which the transportation would be provided (including on the basis that the transportation would not be provided on a liner vessel (as that term is used in the Shipping Act of 1984 [46 App. U.S.C. 1701 et seq.], as in effect on November 14, 1995)), if the person otherwise satisfies reasonable requirements for financial and operational integrity.

(4) Any determination of nonavailability of United States-flag vessels resulting from the application of this subsection shall not reduce the gross tonnage of commodities required by sections 1241(b) and 1241f of this Appendix to be transported on United States-flag vessels.

(d) "Export activity" defined

As used in subsection (b) of this section, the term "export activity" does not include inspection or weighing activities, other activities carried out for health or safety purposes, or technical assistance provided in the handling of commercial transactions.

(e) Prevailing world market price

(1) The prevailing world market price as to agricultural commodities or the products thereof shall be determined under sections 1241e through 1241h of this Appendix in accordance with procedures established by the Secretary of Agriculture. The Secretary shall prescribe such procedures by regulation, with notice and opportunity for public comment, pursuant to section 553 of title 5.

(2) In the event that a determination of the prevailing world market price of any other type of materials, goods, equipment, or service is required in order to determine whether a barter or exchange transaction is subject to subsection (b)(6) or (b)(7) of this section, such determination shall be made by the Secretary of Agriculture in consultation with the heads of other appropriate Federal agencies.

(June 29, 1936, ch. 858, title IX, §901b, as added Pub. L. 99–198, title XI, §1142, Dec. 23, 1985, 99 Stat. 1491 ; amended Pub. L. 101–624, title XV, §1525, Nov. 28, 1990, 104 Stat. 3667 ; Pub. L. 104–239, §17, Oct. 8, 1996, 110 Stat. 3138 ; Pub. L. 105–385, title II, §212(b)(5), Nov. 13, 1998, 112 Stat. 3467 .)

References in Text

The Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954, referred to in subsecs. (b)(1) and (c)(3)(A), is act July 10, 1954, ch. 469, 68 Stat. 454 , as amended, which is classified generally to chapter 41 (§1691 et seq.) of Title 7, Agriculture. Title II of the Act is classified generally to subchapter III (§1721 et seq.) of chapter 41 of Title 7. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 1691 of Title 7 and Tables.

The cargo preference laws, referred to in subsec. (c)(2), include act Mar. 26, 1934, ch. 90, 48 Stat. 500 , and act Aug. 26, 1954, ch. 936, 68 Stat. 832 , which are classified to sections 1241–1 and 1241, respectively, of this Appendix.

The Shipping Act of 1984, referred to in subsec. (c)(3)(C)(ii), is Pub. L. 98–237, Mar. 20, 1984, 98 Stat. 67 , as amended, which is classified principally to chapter 36 (§1701 et seq.) of this Appendix. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 1701 of this Appendix and Tables.

Amendments

1998-Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 105–385 substituted "Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust Act" for "Food Security Wheat Reserve Act of 1980 (7 U.S.C. 1736f–1)".

1996-Subsec. (c)(3)(A). Pub. L. 104–239, §17(a)(1), substituted "and, subject to subparagraph (B) of this paragraph, consistent with those sections," for "and consistent with those sections," and "25 percent" for "50 percent".

Subsec. (c)(3)(B), (C). Pub. L. 104–239, §17(a)(2), added subpars. (B) and (C) and struck out former subpar. (B) which read as follows: "In carrying out this paragraph, the Commodity Credit Corporation shall not allocate to the Great Lakes port range in any year a percentage share of commodities referred to in subparagraph (A) that is greater than the share experienced by that port range in 1984, as determined by the Secretary of Agriculture."

Subsec. (c)(4), (5). Pub. L. 104–239, §17(b), redesignated par. (5) as (4) and struck out former par. (4) which read as follows: "Amounts of cargo allocated to ports in the Great Lakes port range pursuant to paragraph (3) shall not be exported from a different port range except as necessary to meet United States-flag transportation requirements of sections 1241(b) and 1241f of this Appendix, in which case within the same year the Commodity Credit Corporation shall take such steps as are necessary and practicable without detriment to any port range to ensure the export from the Great Lakes port range of an amount of tonnage of commodities referred to in paragraph (3)(A) that is not required to be transported on United States-flag vessels, that is equal to the amount of tonnage diverted for export from other port ranges."

1990-Subsec. (c)(2). Pub. L. 101–624, §1525(1), (2), struck out "(A)" before "In order to provide" and struck out subpar. (B) which read as follows: "In addition, the Secretary of Transportation, in administering this subsection and section 1241(b) of this Appendix, and consistent with these sections, shall take such steps as may be necessary and practicable without detriment to any port range to preserve during calendar years 1986, 1987, 1988, and 1989 the percentage share, or metric tonnage of bagged, processed, or fortified commodities, whichever is lower, experienced in calendar year 1984 as determined by the Secretary of Agriculture, of waterborne cargoes exported from Great Lake ports pursuant to title II of the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 (7 U.S.C. 1721 et seq.)."

Subsec. (c)(3) to (5). Pub. L. 101–624, §1525(3), added pars. (3) to (5).

Section Referred to in Other Sections

This section is referred to in sections 1187a, 1187b, 1241d, 1241e, 1241g, 1241h, 1241i, 1241j, 1241l, 1241o, 1241p, 1241s of this Appendix.