Wheat growers have expressed concern to Congress that potential changes to grain inspection procedures threatens to disrupt exports. In a letter to the House Agriculture Committee, the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) asked that the Grains Standards Act, which is up for reauthorization at the end of September, not include provisions that would “undermine the current system of inspections.” The group points to last year’s disruption at a United Grain facility in the Pacific Northwest as a potential threat to American exports.

“Our overseas customers have come to trust the current system. It is vital that we remain the world’s reliable supplier of wheat,” says NAWG President Brett Blankenship.

Blankenship asked Congress to maintain close oversight of the Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS), but said the agency should also “take whatever actions are necessary to immediately restore official grain inspection and weighting service wherever and whenever it is disrupted.”