Title 7
SECTION 1493.400
1493.400 General statement.
§ 1493.400 General statement.(a) Overview. (1) This subpart contains the regulations governing the operations of the Supplier Credit Guarantee Program (SCGP). The restrictions and criteria set forth at subpart A for the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) Export Credit Guarantee Program (GSM-102) and the Intermediate Credit Guarantee Program (GSM-103) will apply to this subpart. The SCGP was developed to expand U.S. agricultural exports by making available payment guarantees to encourage U.S. exporters to extend financing on credit terms of not more than 180 days to importers of U.S. agricultural commodities.
(2) The SCGP operates in cases where credit is necessary to increase or maintain U.S. exports to a foreign market and where private U.S. exporters would be unwilling to provide financing without CCC's guarantee. The program is operated in a manner intended not to interfere with markets for cash sales. The program is targeted toward those countries where the guarantees are necessary to secure financing of the exports but which have sufficient financial strength so that foreign exchange will be available for scheduled payments. In providing this credit guarantee facility, CCC seeks to expand market opportunities for U.S. agricultural exporters and assist long-term market development for U.S. agricultural commodities.
(3) The credit facility created by this program is the SCGP payment guarantee (payment guarantee). The payment guarantee is an agreement by CCC to pay the exporter, or the U.S. financial institution that may take assignment of the exporter's right to proceeds, specified amounts of principal and, where applicable, interest due from, but not paid by, the importer incurring the obligation in connection with the export sale to which CCC's guarantee coverage pertains. By approving an exporter's application for a payment guarantee, CCC encourages private sector, rather than government, financing and incurs a substantial portion of the risk of default by the importer. CCC assumes this risk, in order to be able to operate the program for the purposes specified in § 1493.2.
(b) Credit facility mechanism. (1) For the purpose of the SCGP, CCC will consider applications for payment guarantees only in connection with export sales of U.S. agricultural commodities where the payment for the agricultural commodities will be made under an unconditional and irrevocable importer obligation to a U.S. exporter payable in U.S. dollars, as defined in § 1493.410(n).
(2) The exporter may assign the right to proceeds under the importer obligation to a U.S. bank or other financial institution so that the exporter may realize the proceeds of the sale prior to the deferred payment date(s) as set forth in the importer obligation.
(3) The SCGP payment guarantee is designed to protect the exporter or the exporter's assignee against those losses specified in the payment guarantee resulting from defaults, whether for commercial or noncommercial reasons, by the importer under the importer's obligation.
(c) Program administration. The SCGP will be administered pursuant to subpart A and this subpart and any Program Announcements and Notices to Participants issued by CCC pursuant to, and not inconsistent with, this subpart. This program is under the general administrative responsibility of the General Sales Manager (GSM), Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS/USDA). The review and payment of claims for loss will be administered by the Office of the Controller, CCC. Information regarding specific points of contact for the public, including names, addresses, and telephone and facsimile numbers of particular USDA or CCC offices, will be announced by a public press release (see § 1493.410(c), “Contacts P/R”).
(d) Country allocations and program announcements. From time to time, CCC will issue a Program Announcement to announce a SCGP allocation for a specific country. The Program Announcement for a country allocation will designate specific allocations for U.S. agricultural commodities or products thereof, will indicate the form of promissory note required by CCC, and will provide other pertinent information. Exporters may negotiate export sales to importers in that country for one of the commodities specified in the Program Announcement and seek payment guarantee coverage within the dollar amounts of specified coverage for that commodity. The Program Announcement will contain a requirement that the exporter's sales contract contain a shipping deadline within the applicable program year. The final date for a contractual shipping deadline will be stated in the Program Announcement. Program Announcements may also contain a specified “undesignated” or “unallocated” dollar amount for the purpose that if dollar amounts specified for a specific commodity for a country become fully used, an additional allocation from the “unallocated” or “undesignated” portion of the total country allocation may then be designated for a specific commodity. Program Announcements that include an “unallocated” or “undesignated” dollar amount will contain further information on the “unallocated” or “undesignated” portion of the country allocation.