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[Federal Register: January 13, 2005 (Volume 70,
Number 9)]
[Notices]
[Page 2376-2380]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Commodity Credit Corporation
Notice of Funds Availability: Inviting Applications for Emerging
Markets Program
Announcement Type: New.
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 10.603.
SUMMARY: The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC)
announces the availability of approximately $8 million in funding for the
Emerging Markets Program (EMP) for fiscal year (FY) 2005. The intended effect of
this notice is to solicit applications from the private sector and from
government agencies for FY 2005 and awards funds in early July 2005. The
EMP is administered by personnel of the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS).
DATES: All proposals must be received by 5 p.m. eastern standard time, March 14, 2005. Applications received after this time will not be considered.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Entities
wishing to apply for funding
assistance should contact the 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.
Information is also available on the Foreign Agricultural Service Web
site at
http://www.fas.usda.gov/mos/em-markets/em-markets/html.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Funding Opportunity Description
Authority: The EMP is authorized by section
1542(d)(1)(D) of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation and Trade Act of 1990 (The
Act), as amended. EMP regulations appear at 7 CFR part 1486.
1. Purpose: The EMP provides funding for technical
assistance to assist U.S. organizations, public and private, to improve market
access through generic, rather than branded, activities that can develop and
promote U.S. agricultural products and/or processes in low- to middle-income
countries that offer promise of emerging market opportunities.
Activities funded are those that primarily benefit U.S.
industry as a whole. 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.
2. Appropriate Activities: Following are types of
project 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 crisis 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 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 and services. Examples: Product
needs assessments and market analysis; assessments 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 pre-award costs or 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 EMP
Regulations.
3. Eligible Markets: The Act defines an emerging
market as any country that the Secretary of Agriculture determines:
(a) Is taking steps toward a market-oriented economy through
the food, agriculture, or rural business sectors of the economy of the country;
and
(b) 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 or regional
groups with per capita income less than $9,076 (the current ceiling on upper
middle income economies as determined by the World Bank [World Development
Indicators]) and populations of greater than 1 million.
Income limits and their calculation can change from year to
year, with the result that a given country may qualify under the legislative and
administrative criteria one year but not the next. Therefore, CCC has not
established a fixed list of ``emerging market'' countries. For FY 2005, however,
the following guidance is provided regarding country eligibility for the EMP:
--Eligible. All of the countries of Central
and South America; most in the Caribbean; all of sub-Saharan Africa; some
countries in the Middle East; and the developing economies of Asia.
--Ineligible. Canada; Japan; Taiwan; Hong Kong; South Korea; Australia;
New Zealand; all countries of Western Europe; Slovenia; Israel; Barbados, Aruba,
and Antigua and Barbuda in the Caribbean; and Saudi Arabia, the United Arab
Emirates, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Qatar in the
Middle East.
Some markets can be more
difficult to develop and sustain over a period of time; proposed activities in
such markets should be considered in terms of whether they provide ``viable and
significant markets'' for U.S. agricultural exports.
In the case of some oil-rich countries in the Middle East,
e.g., Saudi Arabia, targeted activities may be considered on a case-by-case
basis, for example, addressing technical barriers to exporting U.S.
commodities.
A few countries technically qualify as emerging markets, but
because of political sensitivities may require a separate determination before
funding can be considered.
II. Award Information
In general, all qualified proposals received before the
application deadline will compete for EMP funding. Priority consideration will
be given to proposals that identify and seek to address specific problems or
constraints to agricultural exports in emerging markets through technical
assistance activities that are intended 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.
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 $250,000 and for a duration of
one year or less. Multi-year proposals, and at higher cost, 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.
Funding for successful proposals will be provided through
specific
agreements. The CCC, through FAS, will be kept informed of the implementation of
approved projects through the requirement to provide quarterly progress reports
and final performance reports. Changes in the original project time lines and
adjustments within project budgets beyond a certain amount must be approved by
FAS.
III. Eligibility and Qualification Information
1. Eligible Applicants. Any United States private or
Government entity with a demonstrated role or interest in exports of U.S.
agricultural commodities or products may apply to the program.
Government organizations consist of Federal, State, and local agencies. Private
organizations include non-profit trade associations, universities, agricultural
cooperatives, state regional trade groups,
and profit-making entities and consulting businesses. Proposals from research
and consulting organizations will be considered if they provide evidence of
substantial participation in and financial support by the U.S. industry.
For-profit entities are also eligible, but may not use program funds to conduct
private business, promote private self-interests, supplement the costs of normal
sales activities, or promote their own products or services beyond specific uses
approved by CCC in a given project.
U.S. market development cooperators and state regional trade
groups (SRTGs) may seek funding to address priority, market specific issues and
to undertake activities not suitable for funding under other marketing programs,
e.g., the Foreign Market Development Cooperator (Cooperator) Program and the
Market Access Program (MAP). Foreign organizations, whether government or
private, may participate as third parties in activities carried out by U.S.
organizations, but are not
eligible for funding assistance from the program.
2. Cost Sharing. No private sector proposal will be
considered without the element of cost-share from the participant and/or U.S.
partners. The EMP is intended to complement, not supplant, the efforts of the
U.S. private sector. There is no minimum or maximum amount of cost share, though
the range in recent successful proposals has been between 35 and 75 percent. The
degree of commitment to a proposed project represented by the amount and type of
private funding are both
used in determining which proposals will be approved for funding. Cost-share may
be actual cash invested or professional time of staff assigned to the project.
Proposals in which private industry is willing to commit cash, rather than
in-kind contributions such as staff resources, will be given priority
consideration.
Cost-sharing is not required for proposals from U.S.
Government agencies, but is mandatory for all other eligible entities, even when
they may be party to a joint proposal with a U.S. Government agency.
Contributions from USDA or other U.S. Government agencies or programs may not be
counted toward the stated cost share requirement. Similarly, contributions from
foreign (non-U.S.) organizations may not be counted toward the cost share
requirement, but may be counted in the total cost of the project.
3. Other. Proposals should include a justification for
funding assistance from the program--an 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. Applicants may submit more than one proposal.
IV. Application and Submission Information
1. Address to Request Application Package. For 2005,
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 the market
development programs administered by FAS.
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 including a user of id and password. 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 should also provide, promptly after
the deadline for submitting the on-line application, a printed or e-mailed
version of each proposal (using Word or compatible format) to one of the
following address:
Hand Delivery (including FedEx, DHL, UPS, etc.): U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service, Marketing Operations Staff, Room
4932-South, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250-1042;
U.S. Postal Delivery: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Foreign
Agricultural Service, Marketing Operations Staff, STOP 1042, 1400 Independence
Ave., SW., Washington, DC 20250-1042. E-mail address:
emo@fas.usda.gov.
Applicants electing not to use
the online system must submit a printed copy of their application to one of the
above addresses:
2. Content and Form of Application Submission. It is
highly recommended that any organization considering applying to the program
first obtain a copy of the EMP Regulations. The regulations contain information
on requirements that a proposal must include in order to be
considered for funding under the program, along with other important
information. EMP regulations and additional information may be obtained from the
Marketing Operations Staff at the address above. The regulations are also
available at the following URL address:
http://www.fas.usda.gov/mos/em-markets/em-markets.html.
In addition, in accordance with
the Office of Management and Budget's policy directive regarding the use of a
universal identifier for all Federal grants or cooperative agreements, all
applicants must
submit a Dun and Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number prior
to submitting applications. An applicant may request a DUNS number at no cost by
calling the dedicated toll-free DUNS number request line on 1-866-705-5711.
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;
(d) Tax ID number;
(e) DUNS number;
(f) Primary contact person;
(g) Full title of proposal;
(h) Target market(s);
(i) Current conditions in the target market(s) affecting the
intended commodity or product;
(j) 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, impediments: infrastructure,
financing, regulatory or other non-tariff barriers, etc.;
(k) Project objectives;
(l) Performance measures: benchmarks for quantifying progress
in meeting the objectives;
(m) Rationale: Explanation of the underlying reasons for the
project proposal and its approach, the anticipated benefits, and any additional
pertinent analysis;
(n) Clear demonstration that successful implementation will
benefit a particular industry as a whole, not just the applicant(s);
(o) 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;
(p) Specific description of activity/activities to be
undertaken;
(q) Time line(s) for implementation of activity, including
start and end dates (start date should be no earlier than 15 July 2005);
(r) Information on whether similar activities are or have
previously been funded with USDA sources in target country/countries (e.g.,
under MAP and/or FMD programs); and
(s) Detailed line item activity 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 costs
for each, should be listed, clearly indicating:
(1) Which items are to be covered by EMP funding;
(2) Which by the participating U.S. organization(s); and
(3) Which by foreign 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.
3. Submission Dates and Times. All proposals must be
received by 5 p.m. eastern standard time on March 14, 2005, in the MOS office,
either electronically, hand delivered, or by mail. Proposals received after this
date and time will not be reviewed nor considered for program
funding.
4. Funding Restrictions. Certain types of expenses are
not eligible for reimbursement by the program, and there are limits on other
categories of expenses such as indirect overhead charges, travel expenses and
consulting fees. CCC will not reimburse expenditures made prior to approval of a
proposal or unreasonable expenditures. Full details are available in the EMP
regulations.
V. Application Review Information
1. Criteria. Key criteria used in judging proposals
include:
--The appropriateness of the activities for the targeted market(s), and the
extent to which the project identifies market barriers, e.g., a fundamental
deficiency in the market, and/or a recent change in market conditions;
--Potential of the project to expand U.S. market share, increase U.S. exports or
sales, and/or improve awareness of U.S. agricultural commodities and products;
--Quality of the project's performance measures, and the degrees to which they
relate to the objectives, proposed approach and activities, and deliverables;
--Justification for Federal funding;
--Budget: overall cost and the amount of funding provided by applications, the
U.S. private sector and partners, if any; and
--Evidence that the organization has the knowledge, expertise, ability, and
resources to successfully implement the project.
2. Review and Selection Process.
All applications undergo a multi-phase review within FAS, by appropriate FAS
field offices, and by the private sector Advisory Committee on Emerging Markets
to determine qualifications, quality and appropriateness of projects, and
reasonableness of project budgets prior to making recommendations to the
deciding official.
3. Anticipated Announcement Date. Announcements of
funding decisions for the EMP are anticipated on or about July 1, 2005.
VI. Award Administration Information
1. Award Notices. FAS will notify each applicant in writing
of the final disposition of its application. FAS will send an approval letter
and project agreement to each approved applicant. The approval letter and
agreement will specify the terms and conditions applicable to the project,
including the levels of EMP funding and cost-share contribution requirements.
2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements.
Interested parties should review the EMP regulations which are available at the
following URL address:
http://www.fas.usda.gov/mos/em-markets/em-markets.html. Printed
copies may be obtained by contacting MOS at (202)
720-4327.
3. Reporting. Quarterly progress reports for all
programs one year or longer in duration are required. Projects of less than one
year generally require a mid-term progress report. Final performance reports are
due 90 days after completion of each project. Content for both types of reports
is contained in the Project Agreement. Final financial reports are also due 90
days after completion of each project, as attachments to the final reports.
VII. Agency Contact(s)
For additional information and assistance, contact the
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.
Signed at Washington, DC, on January 4, 2005.
A. Ellen Terpstra,
Administrator, Foreign Agricultural Service and Vice President,
Commodity Credit Corporation.
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