Title 7
SECTION 1493.385
1493.385 Additional obligations and requirements.
§ 1493.385 Additional obligations and requirements.(a) Maintenance of records and access to premises, and responding to CCC inquiries. For a period of five years after the date of expiration of the coverage of a payment guarantee, the seller and the assignee, if applicable, must maintain and make available all records and respond completely to all inquiries pertaining to sales and deliveries of and extension of credit for goods and services sold in connection with a payment guarantee, including those records generated and maintained by agents and related companies involved in special arrangements with the seller. The Secretary of Agriculture and the Comptroller General of the United States, through their authorized representatives, must be given full and complete access to the premises of the seller and the assignee, as applicable, during regular business hours from the effective date of the payment guarantee until the expiration of such five-year period to inspect, examine, audit, and make copies of the seller's, assignee's, agent's, or related company's books, records and accounts concerning transactions relating to the payment guarantee, including, but not limited to, financial records and accounts pertaining to sales, inventory, processing, and administrative and incidental costs, both normal and unforeseen. During such period, the seller and the assignee may be required to make available to the Secretary of Agriculture or the Comptroller General of the United States, through their authorized representatives, records that pertain to transactions conducted outside the program, if, in the opinion of the Director, such records would pertain directly to the review of transactions undertaken by the seller in connection with the payment guarantee.
(b) Responsibility of program participants. It is the responsibility of all sellers and U.S. and foreign financial institutions to review, and fully acquaint themselves with, all regulations, program announcements, and notices to participants relating to the FGP, as applicable. All sellers and U.S. and foreign financial institutions participating in the FGP are hereby on notice that they will be bound by this subpart and any terms contained in the payment guarantee and in applicable program announcements.
(c) Submission of documents by principals. All required submissions, including certifications, applications, reports, or requests (i.e., requests for amendments), by sellers, assignees, or foreign financial institutions under this subpart must be signed by a principal of the seller, assignee, or foreign financial institution or their authorized designee(s). In cases where the designee is acting on behalf of the principal, the signature must be accompanied by wording indicating the delegation of authority or, in the alternative, by a certified copy of the delegation of authority, and the name and title of the authorized person or officer. Further, the seller, assignee, or foreign financial institution must ensure that all information and reports required under these regulations are timely submitted.
(d) Misstatements or noncompliance by seller may lead to rescission of payment guarantee. CCC may cancel a payment guarantee in the event that a seller makes a willful misstatement in the certifications in §§ 1493.270(a) and 1493.330(c) or if the seller fails to comply with the provisions of § 1493.340 or § 1493.385(a). However, notwithstanding the foregoing, CCC will not cancel its payment guarantee if it determines, in its sole discretion, that an assignee had no knowledge of the seller's misstatement or noncompliance at the time of assignment of the payment guarantee.