LEWISTON – Michael Tardy, Androscoggin and Sagadahoc County Farm Service Agency Office executive director, issues a reminder to foreign agricultural investors of the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978.

The act requires any foreign person who acquires or transfers interest, other than a security interest, in agricultural land to submit a completed FSA-153 form to the Secretary of Agriculture not later than 90 days after the date of acquisition or transfer.

It also states a foreign person holding an interest, other than a security interest, in agricultural land on Feb. 1, 1979, should have submitted a report not later than Aug. 1, 1979.

The forms and information may be accessed via the Internet at www.fsa.usda.gov or http://www.fsa.usda.gov/nv/afida. Completed forms should to be submitted to the county office where land is located.

Any foreign person who did not submit a form or who 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. The forms will be analyzed by the Department of Agriculture agency staff.

For more information, contact the area office at 753-9400, ext. 2.