Trade Adjustment Assistance
Program
The Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) Program
helps producers, including aquaculturists,
adjust to import competition. Producers of
all raw agricultural products are potentially
eligible for the program. For a farmer or
fisherman to become eligible for benefits,
he or she must complete a two-step application
process. Three or more farmers or fishermen,
not family related, or a bona fide agricultural
group or fishing group that represents producers
or fishermen may petition to have a commodity
or fish species declared eligible for the
program.
Petitioners must document that all three
of these circumstances occurred:
- The current market year price of the
commodity or fish species must be 80 percent
or less of the previous 5-year average
price of that commodity or fish species.
- Imports of the commodity (or fish species)
or “like-commodities” must
have increased in the previous year.
- It must be shown that the imports in
question contributed importantly to the
price decline.
Obtaining Program Benefits
Once a commodity is certified as being eligible
for the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA)
program, the producers of that commodity
residing in the state(s) covered by the successful
petition may apply for benefits. There are
a number of benefits. The first is technical
information and advice as to how a producer
or fisherman might be able to adjust to competition
from imports. The second is a cash payment,
not to exceed $10,000 in any given year.
A third benefit is that farmers, fishermen,
and crewmen not previously eligible for the
Department of Labor TAA program, are now
eligible if they meet all the tests to receive
cash benefits under the USDA TAA program.
What Agencies Are Involved?
The TAA program is administered by the USDA
Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), the executive
agency for the program. However, other USDA
agencies have major responsibilities. The
Economic Research Service (ERS) provides
a marketing review of all petitions forwarded
to them by the FAS. The Farm Service Agency
(FSA) provides a number of services. First,
it provides the petition application forms
and an electronic means by which petitions
may be submitted. Second, the FSA receives
the applications for benefits by farmers
and fishermen. And third, once all certifications
are completed by individual farmers and fishermen,
the FSA will issue benefit checks.
CSREES Responsibilities
CSREES plays a major role in the TAA program.
The legislation states that, prior to receiving
any benefits, a farmer (fisherman) must receive
from an Extension Service agent or employee
technical information and advice as to how
he or she might be able to mitigate or adjust
to competition from imports. The legislation
also makes clear that, once a commodity or
fish species has been declared eligible for
the program, all producers of that commodity,
or all fishermen (boat permit holders as
well as crewmen who share in the catch as
their payment) of the fish species must be
notified of benefits under the program and
will receive, upon request, any assistance
in applying for benefits. While CSREES is
not responsible for this requirement, it
coordinates and assists as it can with the
FAS and the FSA to help ensure that producers
receive the information they need.
Who Is Eligible for Trade Adjustment Assistance?
Any producer or fisherman is eligible for
TAA benefits once a petition has been certified
and if:
- The producer is an owner, operator, landlord,
tenant, or sharecropper who shares in the
risk of producing the eligible commodity
and who is entitled to share in the crop
available for marketing from the farm;
or the fisherman is a qualified fisherman
(permit holder, crewman sharing in the
catch as payment for services rendered,
etc.).
- The producer produces a raw agricultural
commodity, including livestock, fish, and
aquacultural products.
Who Is Not Eligible?
Those who may not be eligible are those
who process the commodity in question,
excluding cleaning, grading, coating, sorting,
trimming, mixing, conditional, drying, dehulling,
shelling, chilling, cooling, blanching, irradiating,
or fumigating. Those whose farm or fishery
is located outside the producing/catching
area covered by the certified petition also
are not eligible.
Producer/Fisherman Application Period
Once a commodity has been certified as eligible
by the FAS in the Federal Register or through
an official USDA news release, producers
and fishermen covered by the petition have
90 days in which to apply for benefits. Also,
eligible producers and fishermen are immediately
eligible to receive technical information
and advice from the Extension Service. As
a courtesy and convenience to the producers
and fishermen who receive the technical information
and advice, the Extension Service will provide
a “Certificate of Training” to
help the fisherman and producer provide evidence
that he or she has received the required
training. Producers and fishermen should
apply for benefits at the local county FSA
Office or the office that ordinarily provides
FSA services to the individual applicant.
How Much Is the Maximum Benefit?
In addition to the technical information
and advice that producers or fishermen can
receive at no cost to themselves, they may
also receive up to $10,000 per year in cash
benefits. However, ordinarily, most will
receive far less than the maximum. The amount
due is equal to the product of the amount
of the agricultural commodity produced (or
fish species caught) in the most recent marketing
year multiplied by one-half the difference
between (1) an amount equal to 80 percent
of the average of the national average prices
of the agricultural commodity or fish species
covered by the petition for the five marketing
years preceding the most recent marketing
year and (2) the national average price of
the agricultural commodity (or fish species)
for the most recent marketing year.
How Does CSREES Meet Its Responsibilities
for the TAA Program?
CSREES uses the four Regional Risk Management
Education Centers and the supporting Risk
Management Digital Center at the University
of Minnesota to oversee and coordinate the
development and delivery of technical information
and advisory packages. When a commodity is
declared eligible by the FAS, ordinarily
the Regional Risk Management Education Center
located in the region with the largest number
of states and eligible producers will be
assigned the responsibility for developing
and delivering the technical information
and advisory package. For example, in November
2003, catfish were certified as eligible
by FAS. While there are catfish producers
in 18 states representing three of the four
regions, because most of the catfish production
takes place in four southern states, the
Southern Regional Risk Management Education
Center is responsible for developing and
delivering the technical information and
advice. The Southern Center is also coordinating
with the other two affected regions on how
to inform their catfish producers of the
technical information and advice. Similarly,
the Western Center for Risk Management Education
was responsible for developing the technical
information packages for both Alaska and
Washington salmon. These two are coordinating
with all the other regional risk management
centers for fishermen holding salmon permits
from the state of Alaska, who reside in 41
states.
What Happens When the FAS Certifies a Commodity
or Fish Species as Eligible?
Immediately upon publication in the Federal
Register or through the issuance of a USDA
press release, FAS will inform CSREES that
a commodity has been certified and approved
for the TAA program. Once that has occurred,
the CSREES national program leader responsible
for the TAA program will contact all the
Risk Management Education Center directors
and assign responsibility to one of the centers
to develop and deliver pertinent information
on adjusting to import competition. The center
that receives this responsibility is based
on the number of states and producers within
each of the regions, and the one with the
largest number in each category is assigned
the responsibility.
What Do the Regional Risk Management Education
Centers Do Regarding the TAA Program?
The final rule governing the TAA program
requires that CSREES have prepared and ready
for delivery the technical information and
advisory package within 45 days of a commodity
being certified as eligible. To achieve this,
each Risk Management Education Center director
has identified in each state a TAA contact
person, most often a farm management extension
specialist who has broad knowledge of the
talents and expertise of professionals throughout
the region, or elsewhere, as the case may
be.
Putting Together the Curriculum Development
Team
Once a commodity is certified, the states
in which producers are eligible are identified,
the farm management TAA contact is reached,
experts on the commodity in question are
identified, and a curriculum development
team is put together to develop the technical
information and advisory package. The responsible
Regional Risk Management Education Center
director works with the team to ensure that
time lines are met and that the appropriate
format is being used in developing the technical
information and advisory package. All costs
associated with the development and delivery
of these technical information packages are
reimbursed.
How Does the Risk Management Digital Center
Support the TAA Program?
The law provides that commodities and fish
species that meet the criteria for eligibility
in subsequent years may be re-certified as
eligible in succeeding years. As a result
of this provision, CSREES deems it to be
in the best interests of the USDA, taxpayers,
producers, and fishermen to develop the means
by which the technical information and advisory
packages could be prepared in a consistent
format, regardless of commodity or fish species,
and placed on the Internet for interested
professionals, producers, and fishermen.
Such a system would enable expeditious updating
in those instances where a commodity is recertified
in subsequent years. To serve this purpose,
a cooperative agreement with the Risk Management
Digital Center at the University of Minnesota
was developed. All technical information
and advisory packages prepared under the
responsibilities of the CSREES TAA program
are developed in a consistent format, regardless
of commodity or fish species. All such packages
are archived and available to interested
parties.
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