DEPARTMENTAL
REGULATION |
NUMBER: 1042-42 |
|
SUBJECT:
Agricultural Statistics Board |
DATE: August 29,
2002 |
|
OPI: National
Agricultural Statistics Service |
||
1 PURPOSE
a This regulation describes
responsibilities of the Agricultural Statistics Board (ASB) to prepare and
issue the official National and State forecasts and estimates of the Department
relating to crop production, stocks of agricultural commodities, livestock and livestock products, dairy and
dairy products, poultry and poultry products, agricultural prices, agricultural
wage rates, chemical usage, and such other subjects as the Administrator of the
National Agricultural Statistics Service may direct. Among these reports will be a monthly Crop Production report,
pursuant to 7 U.S.C. 1421d, which will be issued on or before the 12th of each
month.
b NASS Headquarters and State
Statistical Offices will gather information for official forecasts and
estimates from farmers and ranchers and from processors, dealers, cooperating
State and local officials, government agencies and from other sources; and from
peanut processors, holders, dealers, owners, manufacturers of peanut products,
and grower cooperative associations (7 U.S.C. 951 et. seq.). Information will be collected by telephone,
mail or internet questionnaire, personal enumeration, or by other appropriate
means.
2 CANCELLATION
This regulation supersedes DR 1042-42 dated January
16, 1996.
3 POLICY
The Agricultural Statistics Board will prepare and
issue prescribed reports in a timely manner and use diligence in preventing
unauthorized access to confidential information.
4 ABBREVIATIONS
ASB - Agricultural Statistics Board
NASS - National Agricultural Statistics Service
SSO - State Statistical Office
5 DEFINITIONS
a ASB. The Agricultural Statistics Board for any commodity is comprised
of the Chairperson, Director of Statistics Division, Chief of the appropriate
Commodity Branch, and designated statisticians from Headquarters and State
Statistical Offices. The Chairperson will
preside over all Board meetings outlined in 7.b.c. and d. In the absence of the Chairperson, the
Associate Administrator will preside over the meetings outlined in 7.b.c. and
d.; otherwise the Director of the Statistics Division or Chief of Commodity Branch
may preside over board meetings as designated by the Chairperson.
b Sensitive Data. Sensitive data are SSO analyses and
preliminary estimates of acreage, yield, production, stocks, and inventories
used in the preparation of reports for agricultural commodities produced in the
States identified below. These
commodities are traded on Futures exchanges and production is concentrated in a
small number of States. Knowledge of
sensitive data would allow a person to anticipate ASB reports pertaining to the
designated commodities.
The following commodities and States are covered by
this definition:
(1) Corn in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,
Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
(2)
Soybeans in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri,
Nebraska, and Ohio.
(3)
Cotton in Arkansas, California, Georgia, Louisiana,
Mississippi, North Carolina, and Texas.
(4)
Winter wheat in Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Montana,
Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, and Washington.
(5)
Durum wheat in North Dakota.
(6)
Other Spring wheat in Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota.
(7) Oranges in Florida.
(8)
Rice in Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, and
Texas.
(9)
Oats in Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and
Wisconsin.
(10)
Sugar crops in Florida, Louisiana, Minnesota, and North Dakota.
(11)
Cattle inventory in California, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas,
Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin.
(12)
Hogs in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri,
Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, and Oklahoma.
c Reports. ASB publications of agricultural estimates
and/or other data. These reports are
authorized by law, regulation, or the Administrator of NASS.
d Estimates. Official National and State statistics
relating to agricultural facts that have already occurred such as present
inventories and acreages or crop production at the end of season.
e Forecasts. Official National and State statistics relating to expected
agricultural happenings such as yield and production forecasts during the
growing season.
f ASB Rooms. Restricted access areas occupied by
statisticians and other employees while
preparing ASB reports.
6 RESPONSIBILITIES
a Chairperson of the ASB. The Deputy Administrator for Programs and
Products of NASS is designated as the Chairperson of the ASB. In the absence of the Chairperson, section
5.a. defines the Aacting@ designee.
(1) Select the members for each ASB report;
(a) For reports to be signed by the
Secretary of Agriculture (see Section 9.a.), the Chairperson will select a
minimum of five additional members including members from NASS State
Statistical Offices as appropriate; and
(b) For other ASB reports, members will be
selected as deemed necessary by the Chairperson.
(2) Call for and preside over all meetings
of the ASB;
(3) Approve instructions, techniques, and
procedures to be followed in analyzing pertinent data and preparing official
estimates;
(4) Approve each report; and
(5) Release each report or give notice of
any delay.
b Secretary of the ASB. A NASS statistician at Headquarters,
designated by the Administrator will:
(1) Assist the Chairperson in preparing
instructions and compiling statistical data;
(2) Prepare agendas and issue notices of ASB
meetings;
(3) Arrange for receipt of sensitive data
and ensure their security;
(4) Arrange secure facilities for meetings
and publication; and
(5)
Prepare and release ASB
reports.
c U.S. Government Employees. Will prevent unauthorized disclosures.
7 DATA AND REPORT SECURITY
a All Data. Information in all ASB reports will be
withheld from unauthorized disclosure and publication until the day and hour of
public issuance. The Chairperson or designee may notify SSOs, in advance of
publication, of any changes made by the ASB to estimates submitted by their
offices, except as to commodities and reports described in Section 7.b.
b Yield Forecast Data. Information for Crop Production yield
forecasts for corn, winter wheat, other spring wheat, cotton, soybeans, and
oranges in the States defined in Section 5.b., will be withheld from unauthorized
disclosure and publication until the day and hour of public issuance. In addition, the yield forecasts for these
crops will only be determined in ASB rooms after the rooms are secured. This precludes any contact with the named
SSOs after the final data analysis begins.
The yield forecasts to be prepared under these conditions are:
Winter Wheat - May
– August
Spring Wheat - July
- August
Corn - August - November
Soybeans - August
- November
Cotton - August
- December
Oranges - October
- December
(January - August reports will be prepared following
procedures in c & d below.)
c Prospective Plantings, Acreage,
Annual Production, and Stocks.
The Chairperson will preside over ASB meetings where
U.S. level prospective plantings, acreage, annual production, and stocks
estimates for corn, winter wheat, other spring wheat, cotton, and soybeans are
analyzed and determined. State office
personnel may be called upon by the Chairperson or designee to provide
additional analysis.
d Cattle and Hogs.
The Chairperson will preside over all ASB meetings
where U.S. level semi-annual inventory of cattle and quarterly inventory of
hogs and pigs are analyzed and determined.
State office personnel may be called upon by the Chairperson or
designee, to provide additional analysis.
e Statutory Provisions Relating to
Unauthorized Disclosure of Crop Information and Issuance of False Statistics.
(1) "Whoever, being an officer,
employee or person acting for or on behalf of the United States or any
department or agency thereof, and having by virtue of his office, employment or
position, become possessed of information which might influence or affect the
market value of any product of the soil grown within the United States, which
information is by law or by the rules of such department or agency required to
be withheld from publication until a fixed time, willfully imparts, directly or
indirectly, such information, or any part thereof, to any person not entitled
under the law or the rules of the department or agency to receive the same; or,
before such information is made public through regular official channels,
directly or indirectly speculates in any such product by buying or selling the
same in
any quantity, shall be fined not
more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.
No person shall be deemed guilty of a violation of any such rules, unless prior
to such alleged violation he shall have had actual knowledge thereof." (18
U.S.C. 1902.)
(2) "Whoever, being an officer or
employee of the United States or any of its agencies, whose duties require the
compilation or reports of statistics or information relating to the products of
the soil, knowingly compiles for issuance, or issues, any false statistics or
information as a report of the United States or any of its agencies, shall be
fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both."
(18 U.S.C. 2072.)
(a) Authorized Disclosure. "In the case of information furnished
under a provision of law..., neither the Secretary of Agriculture, any other
officer or employee of the Department of Agriculture or agency thereof, nor any
other person may--
(1) use such information provided for a
purpose other than the development or reporting of aggregate data in a manner
such that the identity of the person who supplied such information is not
discernible and is not material to the intended uses of such information; or
(2) disclose such information to the public,
unless such information has been transformed into a statistical or aggregate form
that does not allow the identification of the person who supplied particular
information.
(b) Duty of Secretary; Immunity from
Disclosure; Necessary Consent.
(1) ...no department, agency, officer, or
employee of the Federal Government, other than the Secretary of Agriculture,
shall require a person to furnish a copy of statistical information provided to
the Department of Agriculture.
(2) A copy of such information (A) shall be
immune from mandatory disclosure of any type, including legal process; and (B)
shall not, without the consent of such person, be
admitted as evidence or used for any
purpose in any action, suit, or other judicial or administrative proceeding.
(c) Violations; Penalties. Any person who shall publish, cause to be
published, or otherwise publicly release information collected pursuant to a
provision of law...in any manner or for any purpose...shall be fined not more
than $10,000 or imprisoned for not more than 1 year, or both." (7 U.S.C. 2276.)
8 TRANSMISSION AND HANDLING OF SENSITIVE
DATA
a Transmission to Washington, D.C. Supporting comments and data analysis for sensitive commodities, from each SSO, will be transmitted
electronically to Washington, D.C., in encrypted or otherwise secure form.
b Handling Procedures in Washington,
D.C. All electronic transmissions
of crop yield forecast data defined in Section 7.b. will be captured in machine
media and placed in a packet without being decrypted. This packet will be signed by the Secretary of the ASB or
designee and locked in a safe in the ASB rooms.
c Safeguarding Information in the ASB
Rooms.
(1) Immediately before the Board convenes
for Crop Production forecasts, the ASB Secretary will have a guard stationed at
the entrance of the ASB rooms. All
windows in ASB rooms will be sealed, all doors to ASB rooms secured, and all
means of communication disconnected or confiscated to prevent contact between
persons within the ASB rooms and persons outside.
(2) After the ASB rooms have been secured,
the ASB Secretary or designee will proceed with the decryption.
(3) The guard outside the ASB rooms shall
not permit any communication between persons within the ASB rooms and persons
outside except as provided below. The
guard shall unlock the door only to permit:
(a) Entrance of the Secretary or Acting
Secretary of Agriculture, authorized NASS employees, and other persons with
written permission passes from the Chairperson;
(b) Delivery of written communications and
supplies for ASB use;
(c) Notification to the guard from the ASB
Secretary to convey emergency instructions essential to report completion; and
(d) Departure of:
(1) Any person in the case of extreme
emergency, in which event a guard will accompany and remain with such person
outside the ASB rooms until the release of the report; or
(2) All persons in case of fire or other
serious emergency, in which event all persons having data access will be
removed to secure quarters, accompanied by a guard, and remain in those
quarters until the release of the report, either in its entirety or as a U.S.
Summary.
9 REPORTS AND SCHEDULE OF REPORTS
a Reports to be Approved by the
Secretary of Agriculture. The
following ASB reports will be signed and approved by the Secretary or Secretary
designate, the Chairperson, and ASB members, before being issued or published:
(1) Crop Production - Monthly;
(2) Crop Production - Annual Summary;
(3) Grain Stocks reports containing
corn, wheat, and soybeans;
(4) Small Grains - Annual Summary;
(5)
Winter Wheat Seedings - Annual Summary;
(6) Prospective Plantings;
(7) Acreage report;
(8) Cattle - January and July
Inventory reports; and
(9) Quarterly Hogs and Pigs -
Inventory reports.
b Other ASB Reports. All other reports designated by the
Administrator. Such reports shall be
approved by the Chairperson before issue.
c Annual Release Schedules. On or before the first day of December the
schedule for the ensuing year of dates and hours of release for all statistical
reports in (a) above will be approved by the Secretary of Agriculture. Subsequently, a listing of all ASB reports
will be published with dates and times of issuance.
10 RELEASE OF REPORTS
a Release Room. The ASB Chairperson will designate suitable
space for all press personnel desiring to transmit reports upon official
release. This room shall be located
within the area secured during Crop Production forecast preparation.
b Release Procedure. Press personnel will be allowed access to
the Release Room as early as one and one half hour before the scheduled release
time, depending on the complexity of reports to be released. They will be provided with paper and machine
media copies of the reports. No
communication lines will be activated until just before official release. At the exact time provided for the official issuance,
the ASB Secretary will permit transmission of press service material.
c Delay in Releasing Reports. If a report is not completed and approved
for issuance at the designated time, the Chairperson, not less than 10 minutes
before the release time, will inform the guard of the time when the report will
be released. The guard will immediately
notify the representative designated by the Chairperson, who, in turn, shall
notify the Secretary of Agriculture.
11 EMPLOYEE CERTIFICATION OF KNOWLEDGE OF REGULATION
The Associate Administrator or authorized
representative will obtain from each NASS employee or other person having
access to sensitive report data, in advance of access, a certification that the
person has read this regulation and will be governed by it.
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