Hutchinson, Kansas, October 18, 2012 — Aaron Fall, county executive director of the Reno County Farm Service Agency, today reminded foreign investors who buy, sell or hold a direct or indirect interest in agricultural lands in the United States that they are required under the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act to report their holdings and transactions to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.

The Secretary of Agriculture has delegated the responsibility for collecting this information to the Farm Service Agency.

According to Fall, foreigner investors buying or selling land must report such transaction within 90 days of the date of the sale.

Failure to file an accurate or timely report can result in a penalty with fines up to 25 percent of the fair market value of the agricultural land.

Fall said the act requires reports to be filed by:

§         individuals who are not U.S. citizens or citizens of the Northern Mariana Islands or the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands;

§         individuals who are not lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence or who are not paroled into the United States under the Immigration and Nationality Act;

§         any organization created under the laws of a foreign government or which has located its principal place of business outside the United States;

§         any U.S. organization in which a significant interest or substantial control is directly or indirectly held by foreign individuals, organizations, or governments; and

§         any foreign governments.

Farm Service Agency form FSA-153 is used to report land holdings and transactions. The completed form must be returned to the FSA county office where the land is located.