	u s  certs save mln dlrs amstutz the use of generic commodity certificates or certs for fiscal years will save the government to mln dlrs department of agriculture undersecretary daniel amstutz said speaking at a house agriculture subcommittee hearing on the use of the certificates amstutz said that the issuance of billion dlrs of certificates during fiscal years could result in government outlays of up to mln dlrs however the use of certificates preclude the need for to mln dlrs in storage and handling costs resulting in net savings for the government of mln dlrs he said without the use of certificates amstutz said nearly the entire crop which had been put under loan would have been forfeited to the commodity credit corporation ccc in addition mln bushels of  that have been redeemed from ccc inventory through certificate exchanges would have remained in the goverment inventory he said when asked to comment on a recent study by the general accounting office that concluded certificates result in a net cost to the government amstutz said gao underestimated the benefits and overstated the costs of the certificate program amstutz said while certificates encourage more loan entries they also encourage heavier loan redemptions rather than forfeitures gao underestimated this net loan activity amstutz said there is no question in the mind of the department of agriculture that these certificates have been very useful amstutz said immediate benefits of certificates include greater market liquidity improved market price competitiveness higher farm income and improved debt situation and decreased carrying costs he said certificates are an integral part of usda s long range market oriented farm policy he said amstutz told subcommittee chairman rep dan glickman d kans that usda is in the process of preparing an official response to the gao study on certificates and will submit it to the subcommittee when completed reuter 
