According to the recent Government Accountability Board reportthe federal government “Defective” process To track land purchases by foreign companies.
The federal watchdog agency is entitled “Foreign Investment in U.S. Farmland: Stepping Up Efforts to Gather, Track, and Share Critical Information Could Better Identify National Security Risks.'' It released a report in January that found the U.S. Department of Agriculture “does not share data on U.S. farmland in a timely manner.” Foreign investment in agricultural land. ”
A mysterious investment group has purchased nearly 52,000 acres of land near Travis Air Force Base in Solano County, California, renewing national security concerns about foreign companies investing in land near military bases, Blaze News reports. Ta. It was later revealed by the New York Times that many of the group's investors were Silicon Valley technology moguls. However, the U.S. Treasury Department is still investigating possible foreign ties related to the acquisition.
GAO conducted its latest study after the Department of Agriculture reported that foreign farmland investment will increase to about 40 million acres in 2021, according to the report.
“These investments may have implications for U.S. national security. For example, there may be foreign ownership of U.S. agricultural land located near sensitive military installations,” the report said. explained.
According to the USDA's Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978, foreign companies acquiring agricultural land must file disclosure forms. Currently, the Department of Agriculture shares annual reports of AFIDA data, including number of acres owned and countries of foreign investors. Federal and state government agencies use this data to track foreign investment and enforce restrictions.
According to the report, during a March 2023 Congressional hearing, the Secretary of Agriculture said the USDA relies on foreign companies' purchase reports.
“The Secretary said it would be difficult to enforce self-reporting because deeds are filed with more than 3,000 county recorder offices.” In September 2023, another USDA official said the USDA is “It has been unable to locate AFIDA applications beyond the county level, and there is currently no system in place to track agricultural land deeds or leases,” the GAO explained.
The USDA report is also used by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States “in considering potential national security risks associated with” agricultural purchases.
“Agriculture Department officials said they respond promptly when they receive requests for information. However, Department of Defense officials said they need more up-to-date and more specific AFIDA information and that this stated that the information should be received at least once a year,” the report continued.
“USDA has implemented AFIDA throughout its field offices and headquarters, but the process for collecting, tracking, and reporting critical information is flawed. “We collect the necessary data on paper forms and review them for accuracy. However, the process for doing so is unclear and difficult to implement.”
According to GAO, USDA is seeking funding to build a “real-time data system” that federal agencies and the public can use to access investment information.
“GAO made six recommendations, including that USDA share detailed and timely AFIDA data with the CFIUS agency, improve the reliability of AFIDA data, and evaluate its ability to implement an online submission system and public database. ”, the report added. USDA agreed with five of GAO's recommendations and “partially agreed” with one.
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