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[Federal Register: January 17, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 12)]
[Notices]
[Page 2484-2486]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
Notices
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings, delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency statements of organization and functions are examples of documents appearing in this section.
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Commodity Credit Corporation
Announcement of the Emerging Markets Program
AGENCY: Commodity Credit Corporation, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
SUMMARY: The Commodity Credit Corporation is
inviting private sector proposals for the 2003 Emerging Markets Program.
DATES: All proposals must be received by 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time,
March 10, 2003. Announcements of funding decisions for the EMP are anticipated
in early July 2003.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marketing Operations Staff, Foreign
Agricultural Service, U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Room 4932 South, STOP 1042, 1400 Independence Ave., SW.,
Washington, DC 20250-1042, phone: (202) 720-4327, fax: (202) 720-9361, e-mail: emo@fas.usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Introduction
The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) announces
that proposals are being accepted for participation in the 2003 Emerging Markets
Program (EMP). The purpose of the EMP is to assist U.S. organizations, public
and private, to improve market access and to develop and promote U.S.
agricultural products and/or processes in low to middle income countries that
offer promise of emerging market opportunities. This is to be accomplished by
providing, or paying the costs of, approved technical assistance activities in
those emerging markets. The EMP is administered by the Foreign Agricultural
Service (FAS).
The Act defines an emerging market as any country that the Secretary of
Agriculture determines:
(1) Is taking steps toward a market-oriented economy through the food,
agriculture, or rural business sectors of the economy of the country; and
(2) Has the potential to provide a viable and significant market for United
States agricultural commodities or products of United States agricultural
commodities.
Because funds are limited and the range of potential emerging market countries
is worldwide, proposals for technical assistance activities will be considered
which target those countries with: (1) Per capita income less than $9,265 (the
current ceiling on upper middle income economies as determined by the World Bank
[World Development Indicators]); and (2) population greater than 1 million.
Proposals may address suitable regional groupings, e.g., the islands of the
Caribbean Basin.
Authority
The EMP is authorized by section 1542 of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation and Trade Act of 1990, as amended.
Eligible Applicants, Commodities, and Activities
Any United States agricultural or agribusiness
organization, university, or state department of agriculture is eligible to
participate in the EMP. Proposals from research and consulting organizations
will be considered if they provide evidence of substantial participation by the
U.S. industry. U.S. market development cooperators may seek funding to address
priority, market specific issues and to undertake activities not suitable for
funding under other FAS marketing programs, e.g., the Foreign Market Development
Cooperator (Cooperator) Program and the Market Access Program (MAP).
All agricultural products, except tobacco, are eligible for consideration.
Proposals which include multiple commodities are also eligible.
Only technical assistance activities are eligible for reimbursement. Following
are examples of the types of activities that may be funded:
--Projects designed specifically to improve market
access in emerging foreign markets. Examples: activities intended to mitigate
the impact of sudden political events or economic and currency crises in order
to maintain U.S. market share; responses to time-sensitive market
opportunities;
--Marketing and distribution of value-added products, including new products or
uses. Examples: food service development; market research on potential for
consumer-ready foods or new uses of a product;
--Studies of food distribution channels in emerging markets, including
infrastructural impediments to U.S. exports; such studies should be specific in
their focus and may include cross-commodity activities which address specific
problems. Examples: grain storage handling and inventory systems development;
distribution infrastructure development;
--Projects that specifically address various constraints to U.S. exports,
including sanitary and phytosanitary issues and other non- tariff barriers.
Examples: seminars on U.S. food safety standards and regulations; assessing and
addressing pest and disease problems that inhibit U.S. exports;
--Assessments and follow up activities designed to improve country-wide food and
business systems, to reduce trade barriers, to increase prospects for U.S. trade
and investment in emerging markets, and to determine the potential use for
general export credit guarantees for commodities, facilities and services.
Examples: product needs assessments and market analysis; assessments for using
facilities credits to address infrastructural impediments;
--Projects that help foreign governments collect and use market information and
develop free trade policies that benefit American exporters as well as the
target country or countries. Examples: agricultural statistical analysis;
development of market information systems; policy analysis; and,
--Short-term training in broad aspects of agriculture and agribusiness trade
that will benefit U.S. exporters, including seminars and training at trade shows
designed to expand the potential for U.S. agricultural exports by focusing on
the trading system. Examples: retail training; marketing seminars;
transportation seminars; training on opening new or expanding existing
markets.
The program funds technical assistance activities on a project-by- project
basis. EMP funds may not be used to support normal operating costs of individual
organizations, nor as a source by which to recover prior expenses from previous
or ongoing projects. Ineligible activities include restaurant promotions;
branded product promotions (including labeling and supplementing normal company
sales activities intended to increase awareness and stimulate sales of branded
products); advertising; administrative and operational expenses for trade shows;
and the preparation and printing of brochures, flyers, posters, etc., except in
connection with specific technical assistance activities such as training
seminars. Other items excluded from funding are contained in the 2003 Program
Guidelines.
Project Suitability and Qualification Requirements
The underlying premise of the EMP is that there are distinctive characteristics of emerging agricultural markets that necessitate or benefit significantly from U.S. governmental assistance before the private sector begins to develop these markets through normal corporate or trade promotional activities. The emphasis is on marketing opportunities where there are risks that the private sector would not normally undertake alone. The EMP is intended to supplement, not supplant, the efforts of the U.S. private sector, and it complements the efforts of other FAS marketing programs. Once a market access issue has been addressed by the EMP, further market development activities may be considered under other programs such as GSM-102 or GSM-103 Export Credit Guarantee programs, the Facility Guarantee Program, the Supplier Credit Guarantee Program, the MAP, or the Cooperator Program. The following marketing criteria will be used to determine the suitability of projects for funding under the EMP:
1. Low U.S. market share and significant market potential.
[sbull] Is there a significant lag in U.S. market
share of a specific commodity in a given country or countries? [sbull]
Is there an identifiable obstacle or competitive disadvantage facing U.S.
exporters (e.g., competitor financing, subsidy, competitor market development
activity) or a systemic obstacle to imports of U.S. products (e.g., inadequate
distribution, infrastructure impediments, insufficient information, lack of
financing options or resources)? [sbull]
What is the potential of a project to generate a significant increase in U.S.
agricultural exports in the near- to medium-term? (Estimates or projections of
trade benefits to commodity exports, and the basis for evaluating such, must be
included in EMP proposals.)
2. Recent change in a market.
[sbull] Is there, for example, a change in a sanitary or phytosanitary trade barrier; a change in an import regime or the lifting of a trade embargo; or a shift in the political or financial situation in a country?
Application Requirements and Process
It is highly recommended that any organization
considering applying to the program first obtain a copy of the 2003 Program
Guidelines. These guidelines contain information on requirements that a proposal
must include in order to be considered for funding under the program, along with
other important information.
Requests for the 2003 Program Guidelines and additional information may be
obtained from the Marketing Operations Staff at the address above. The
guidelines are also available at the following URL address: http://www.fas.usda.gov/mos/em-markets/em-markets.html.
To assist FAS in making determinations regarding funding, applications should be
no longer than ten (10) pages and include the following information: (a) Date of
proposal; (b) name of organization submitting proposal; (c) organization
address, telephone and fax numbers, and tax ID number; (d) primary contact
person; (e) full title of proposal; (f) target market(s); (g) description of
problem(s), i.e., constraint(s), to be addressed by the project such as
inadequate knowledge of the market; insufficient trade contacts; lack of
awareness by foreign officials of U.S. products and business practices;
infrastructure, financing, and regulatory impediments or other non-tariff
barriers; (h) project objectives; (i) performance measures--benchmarks for
quantifying progress in meeting the objectives; (j) rationale--explanation of
the underlying reasons for the project proposal and its approach, the
anticipated benefits, the current conditions in the target market(s) affecting
the intended commodity or product, and any additional pertinent analysis; (k)
clear demonstration that successful implementation will benefit a particular
industry as a whole, not just the applicant(s); (l) explanation as to what
specifically could not be accomplished without federal funding assistance and
why participating organization(s) are unlikely to carry out the project without
such assistance; (m) specific description of activity(ies) to be undertaken; (n)
time line(s) for implementation of the project, including start and end dates
(start dates should be after July 15, 2003); (o) information on whether similar
activities are or have previously been funded with USDA sources in target
country/countries (e.g., under MAP and/or Cooperator Program); (p) detailed line
item activity budget. Regarding the budget, cost items should be allocated
separately to each participating organization. Expense items constituting a
proposed activity's overall budget (e.g., salaries, travel expenses, consultant
fees, administrative costs, etc.), with a line item cost for each, should be
listed, clearly indicating which items are to be covered by EMP funding, which
by the participating U.S. organization(s), and which by third parties (if
applicable). Cost items for individual consultant fees should show calculation
of daily rate and number of days. Cost items for travel expenses should show
number of trips, destinations, cost, and objective for each trip. Qualifications
of applicant(s) should be included as an attachment.
This notice is complemented by concurrent notices announcing other foreign
market development programs administered by the FAS including the MAP, the
Cooperator Program, the Section 108 Foreign Currency Program, and the Quality
Samples Program. For 2003, EMP applicants have the opportunity to utilize the
Unified Export Strategy (UES) application process, an online system which
provides a means for interested applicants to submit a consolidated and
strategically coordinated single proposal that incorporates funding requests for
any or all of these programs. Applicants are not required to use the UES, but
are strongly encouraged to do so because it reduces paperwork and expedites the
FAS processing and review cycle.
Applicants planning to use the on-line system must contact the Marketing
Operations Staff at (202) 720-4327 to obtain site access information. The
Internet-based application, including step-by-step instructions for its use, is
located at the following URL address: http://www.fas.usda.gov/cooperators.html.
A ``Help'' file is available to assist applicants with the process. Applicants
using the online system are strongly urged to provide a printed or diskette
version of each proposal (using Word or compatible format) to one of the
following addresses:
Hand Delivery (including FedEx, DHL, UPS, etc.): Marketing Operations Staff,
Foreign Agricultural Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Room 4932-South,
1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250-1042. U.S. Postal Delivery:
Marketing Operations Staff, Foreign Agricultural Service, U.S. Department of
Agriculture, STOP 1042, 1400 Independence Ave., SW., Washington, DC
20250-1042.
Allocation of Funds
In general, all qualified proposals received before
the application deadline will compete for EMP funding. The limited funds and the
range of emerging markets worldwide in which the funds may be used preclude CCC
from approving large budgets for individual projects. While there is no minimum
or maximum amount set for EMP-funded projects, most are funded at a level of
less than $500,000 and for a duration of one year or less. Multi-year proposals
may be considered in the context of a strategic detailed plan of implementation.
Funding in such cases is normally provided one year at a time, with commitments
beyond the first year subject to interim evaluations.
In general, priority consideration will be given to proposals that identify and
seek to address specific problems or constraints in rural business systems or
food and agribusiness systems in emerging markets through technical assistance
activities to expand or maintain U.S. agricultural exports. Priority will also
be given to those proposals that include the willingness of the applicant to
commit its own funds, or those of the U.S. industry, to seek export
opportunities in an emerging market. The percentage of private funding proposed
for a project will, therefore, be a critical factor in determining which
proposals are funded under the EMP. Proposals will also be judged on their
ability to provide benefits to the organization receiving EMP funds and to the
broader industry which that organization represents.
A performance report detailing the results of each project supported with EMP
funds must be submitted to the Marketing Operations Staff at the address above.
Because public funds are used to support EMP projects, these reports will be
made available to the public. Complete final financial reports are to accompany
performance reports.
Closing Date for Applications
The deadline for all applications to the EMP is 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, March 10, 2003. Announcements of funding decisions for the EMP are anticipated in early July 2003.
Signed at Washington, DC, on January 8, 2003.
Kenneth J. Roberts,
Acting Administrator,
Foreign Agricultural Service, and
Vice President,
Commodity Credit Corporation.
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