Eligible Commodities - GSM-102 Program

Criteria for determining agricultural commodity/product eligibility under the GSM-102 Program:

1. The commodity or product must meet the definition of “agricultural commodity” found in 7 U.S.C. 5602:  “The term “agricultural commodity” means any agricultural commodity, food, feed, fiber, or livestock (including livestock as it is defined in section 602(s) of the Agricultural Act of 1949 (7 U.S.C. 1471(2)) and insects) and any product thereof.”    In addition, to be deemed an agricultural commodity or product, an item must contain 50% or more agricultural content, by weight.  [For example, a fruit juice product that is 49% fruit juice and 51% water would not be eligible.]

The chart below contains a list of export Harmonized Tariff Schedule codes that FAS has determined meet the definition of “agricultural commodity.”  As a first step in receiving approval of a new commodity, the exporter should determine if the product is classified as an agricultural commodity according to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HS codes) below.  If the product is included in one of these approved categories, the exporter should contact FAS to determine if the product is approved for coverage under the GSM-102 program.

Contact:
Operations and Analysis
Credit Programs Division
(202) 720-2074

ELIGIBLE COMMODITIES – EXPORT CREDIT GUARANTEE PROGRAMS
Agricultural Products – HS Chapters

To view HS codes for various products, go to the Schedule B website to browse by HS Code Chapter.

1. Upon receipt of the exporter’s request, FAS will determine whether an exporter is likely to be able to certify in an application for payment guarantee and evidence of export report that the commodity/product meets the definition of “U.S. agricultural commodity” as required by  7 CFR Section 1493.20:

U.S. Agricultural Commodity or U.S. Agricultural Commodities.  (1)(i) An agricultural commodity or product entirely produced in the United States; or
    (ii) A product of an agricultural commodity--

(A) 90 percent or more of the agricultural components of which by weight, excluding packaging and added water, is entirely produced in the United States; and

(B) That the Secretary determines to be a high value agricultural product.

(2) For purposes of this definition, fish entirely produced in the United States include fish harvested by a documented fishing vessel as defined in title 46, United States Code, in waters that are not waters (including the territorial sea) of a foreign country.  

Standard (non-high value) products that must be entirely produced in the United States include:

• Bulk agricultural commodities (wheat, corn, soybeans, rice, etc.)
• Consumer-ready products such as fresh and dried fruits and vegetables, eggs, and nuts. 
• First transformation products or semi-processed products, including products that result from the first processing of raw agricultural commodities, such as fresh, chilled and frozen meats, carcass, cuts, hides and other animal by-products, flour, vegetable oils, milk powder, butter, hops extract, lumber, wood pulp, milled rice, etc.
• Products subject to minor processes such as bleaching or fortifying of flour, refining of oil, packaging for retail sales, etc., that do not essentially change the nature of or the quality of the products.

High value products are those highly processed products that are ready for the consumer and do not retain the image of being a pure product.  These include items such as cake mixes, breakfast cereals, bakery mixes, vegetable shortening, canned and frozen fruit and juices, seasoned meat, meat products, infant formula, yogurt, ice cream, flavored specialty cheeses, fruit beverages, beer, wine, whiskey, instant soup mix, seasonings.

To ensure that exporters will be able to certify the required level of U.S. content, FAS will consider whether the United States is a significant importer of a product or one of its components, as well as the ability of exporters to provide documentation regarding the origin of the product or its components.  A product will be deemed ineligible for the GSM-102 program if CCC determines that exporters cannot certify the U.S. origin of the product.   For example, products containing more than 10 percent sugar, cocoa, or coffee are not eligible for coverage.

1. FAS must also determine that the commodity/product has commercially available price information.  The program regulations in 7 CFR Section 1493.70 (b) provide that if the unit sales price of a commodity does not fall within the prevailing commercial market range, an application for a payment guarantee will not be approved.   In order for FAS to make this determination, commercial price information must be available.