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1 1 (January 19, 2023)

handle is hein.crs/govekhl0001 and id is 1 raw text is: nforming ii dionaI Research Service led Ilive I Amte sin 01914 January 19, 2023 Foreign Ownership of U.S. Agriculture: Selected Policy Options Congress continues to debate the role of foreign investment in the U.S. food and agriculture sector. Recently enacted appropriations directed the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to expand public access to available data related to foreign holdings of U.S. agricultural land-including crop, grazing, and forest land (7 U.S.C. §3508). The 117th Congress considered, but did not enact, other legislation that would have further amended USDA and other federal authorities. The 118th Congress may reintroduce or expand these or other related proposals. Enacted Agrulture Appropriations Recently enacted appropriations included provisions and report language related to USDA reporting under the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 (AFIDA; P.L. 95-460, 7 U.S.C. §§3501-3508). AFIDA established a nationwide system for USDA to collect data pertaining to foreign ownership of U.S. agricultural land. USDA regulations require foreign investors who acquire, transfer, or hold an interest in U.S. agricultural land to disclose such holdings and transactions to USDA (7 C.F.R. Part 781). Foreign investors held a reported interest in 40 million acres of U.S. agricultural land as of year-end 2021. For more background, see CRS In Focus IF11977, Foreign Farmland Ownership in the United States. The FY2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 117- 328, §773) directs USDA to report on the impact of foreign investments in U.S. agricultural land on family farms, rural communities, and the domestic food supply. It directs USDA to establish a streamlined process for electronic submission and retention of disclosures under AFIDA and to provide an internet database with disaggregated data from each disclosure submitted. USDA has three years to implement some of these directives. The FY2022 appropriations (P.L. 117-103) directed USDA to report on data on foreign-owned agricultural land trends including land owned, or partially owned, by the governments of China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea and the potential impacts on the American agricultural sector, food security, and rural economies. Appropriators also expressed concerns about agricultural land purchased by non-farming entities, including private equity firms and foreign-owned corporations (H.Comm. Print 47-047). Although not part of the enacted appropriations, the House- passed versions of the FY2023 and FY2022 appropriations bills included provisions that would have prohibited the purchase of U.S. agricultural land by companies owned, in full or in part, by China, Russia, North Korea, or Iran (H.R. 8294, §769; H.R. 4502, §777, respectively). The FY2022 House-passed bill also would have prohibited participation in USDA-administered programs. Similar provisions were not taken up in the Senate. The House-passed prohibitions were not included in the enacted appropriations. Other Legislative Proposals The 117th Congress introduced various legislative proposals to address concerns involving foreign investment in U.S. agricultural lands. Although the FY2023 appropriations statute expands USDA data accessibility and transparency, the enacted provision did not amend AFIDA to authorize changes to existing federal disclosure requirements or to restrict USDA benefits related to foreign investments in U.S. farmland, as proposed by some. The 118th Congress might consider these types of proposals during the next farm bill debate. The 117th Congress considered, but did not enact, other proposals that would have provided additional oversight actions or prohibitions related to national security concerns. Some of these proposals may involve other federal authorities and fall outside the jurisdiction of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees. Tightening AFIDA Disclosure Requirements Users of USDA's AFIDA data have noted inaccuracies and underreporting under current disclosure requirements. The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting asserts that data collected under AFIDA are not complete, contain errors and omissions, do not track sales of foreign-held U.S. farmland, and may not accurately reflect changes over time. As reported by the center, USDA has acknowledged errors and omissions in the AFIDA data. Some Members raised similar concerns in an October 2022 request that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) review foreign investment in U.S. farmland and its impact on national security, trade, and food security as well as U.S. government efforts to monitor these acquisitions. Accordingly, GAO is examining which data USDA collects under AFIDA, how collection methods have changed over time, how USDA ensures accurate disclosure, and how reporting requirements under AFIDA might be improved. One set of policy recommendations by the Lincoln Policy Group, a bipartisan consultancy, recommends that Congress use its legislative, oversight, and appropriations powers to strengthen AFIDA and improve transparency by requiring additional USDA data collection, oversight, restrictions, and penalties, as well as authorizing funding for USDA to manage and enforce AFIDA disclosure requirements and to improve data access. The group recommends that USDA improve AFIDA data accessibility by providing public access to disclosure forms, building a data dashboard, and providing data in a user-friendly format. The FY2023 enacted appropriations provision has instituted some of these types of data access and transparency recommendations. The group also suggests that USDA

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