USDA Issues Statement Re: Weekly Export Sales Report

Agency takes system offline and is retracting weekly export sales info initially released

The following is a statement released by USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service:

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

“During today’s launch, FAS encountered challenges that affected the physical dissemination of the data as well as data quality. As a result, the agency has taken the system offline and is retracting the weekly export sales information disseminated earlier today.

“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 recognizes the disruption this situation has caused and is taking immediate steps to rectify it.

“Today’s issues occurred despite the measures taken over many months to transition exporters to the new system and to ensure the accuracy of the data reported. FAS leadership fully recognizes the impacts and is committed to resolving the current problems and keeping our stakeholders informed as we do so.”

Comments: Why did it take so long for USDA to issue a statement on this market-sensitive information? And why didn’t USDA run a test run earlier this morning to make sure things were accurate? These are just some of the questions traders are asking.