Annual notification -The Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA) requires any foreign person who:

acquires or transfers any interest other than a security interest in agricultural land, including forest land, to submit a completed FSA-153 to the Secretary of Agriculture not later than 90 calendar days after the date of acquisition or transfer, or

held any interest, other than a security interest, in agricultural land on February 1, 1979, to have submitted a report to the Secretary not later than August 1, 1979.

The information required by the Secretary should be reported on form FSA-153. Copies of this form, which you are encouraged to give to clients who are foreign persons owning, acquiring, or transferring agricultural land in the United States or its territories or possessions, may be obtained from the local office.

Any foreign person who holds, acquires, or transfers any interest in agricultural land, who the Secretary of Agriculture determines did not submit a FSA-153, or who knowingly submitted a report that was incomplete, misleading, or false is subject to civil penalty of not more than 25 percent of the fair market value of the land on the date the penalty is assessed.

FSA-153 is analyzed by the United States Department of Agriculture, Farm Service Agency, to develop reports for the Secretary of Agriculture and the agriculture department in each state. Completed FSA-153s and the analysis shall be available for public inspection at the Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C.