H.R. 620 — FARM Act

This section amends Section 721 of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4565), which authorizes the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)—an interagency committee chaired by the Secretary of the Treasury that reviews certain foreign investments in U.S. businesses for national security risks—as follows: (1) designates the Secretary of Agriculture as a CFIUS member; (2) expands the definition of covered transaction to include any merger, acquisition, transfer, agreement, takeover, or other arrangement that could result in foreign control of a U.S. business engaged in agriculture and using agricultural products (as defined in 7 U.S.C. 451), if proposed, pending, or completed on or after enactment; (3) includes agricultural systems and supply chains in the definition of critical infrastructure, subject to CFIUS regulations; and (4) adds agricultural supply chains used for such agricultural products to the list of critical technologies.

This section directs the Secretary of Agriculture and the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct an analysis of foreign influence in the U.S. agriculture industry and submit a report to Congress on the analysis not later than one year after enactment and annually thereafter. The report must summarize (1) foreign investments in the U.S. agriculture industry; (2) the potential for such investments to undermine U.S. agricultural production and supply chains; (3) the largest international threats for increased foreign control of and investment in the U.S. agriculture sector; and (4) agriculture-related espionage and theft techniques used by foreign governments, including attempts to target U.S. agricultural intellectual property, innovation, research and development, cost or pricing data, or internal strategy documents.