Federal Register Notices
[Federal Register: April 29, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 81)]
[Notices]
[Page 19498-19501]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr29ap09-34]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Commodity Credit Corporation
Notice of Funds Availability: Inviting
Applications for the Quality Samples Program
Announcement Type: New.
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 10.605.
SUMMARY: The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC)
announces it is inviting proposals for the 2010
Quality Samples Program (QSP). The intended
effect of this notice is to solicit applications
from eligible applicants and award funds in
October 2009. QSP is administered by personnel
of the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS).
DATES: All proposals must be received by 5 p.m.
Eastern Daylight Time, May 29, 2009.
Applications received after this date will be
considered only if funds are still available.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Entities
wishing to apply for funding assistance should
contact the Program Operations Division, Office
of Trade Programs, Foreign Agricultural Service,
Portals Office Building, Suite 400, 1250
Maryland Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20024,
phone:
(202) 720-4327, fax: (202) 720-9361, e-mail:
podadmin@fas.usda.gov. Information is also
available on the FAS Web site at
http://www.fas.usda.gov/mos/programs/QSP.asp.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Funding Opportunity Description
Authority: QSP is authorized under Section 5(f) of the CCC
Charter Act, 15 U.S.C. 714c(f).
Purpose: QSP is designed to encourage the development and
expansion of export markets for U.S.
agricultural commodities by assisting U.S.
entities in providing commodity samples to
potential foreign importers to promote a better
understanding and appreciation for the high
quality
of U.S. agricultural commodities.
QSP participants will be responsible for procuring (or
arranging for the procurement of) commodity
samples, exporting the samples, and providing
the technical assistance necessary to facilitate
successful use of the samples by importers.
Participants that are funded under
this announcement may seek reimbursement for the
sample purchase price, the cost of transporting
the samples domestically to the port of export,
and then to the foreign port or point of entry.
Transportation costs from the foreign port or
point of entry to the final destination
will not be eligible for reimbursement. CCC will
not reimburse the costs incidental to purchasing
and transporting samples, for example,
inspection or documentation fees. Although
providing technical assistance is required for
all projects, CCC will not reimburse the costs
of providing technical assistance. A QSP
participant will be reimbursed after CCC reviews
its reimbursement claim and determines that the
claim is complete.
General Scope of QSP Projects: QSP projects are the
activities undertaken by a QSP participant to
provide an appropriate sample of a U.S.
agricultural commodity to a foreign importer, or
a group of foreign importers, in a given market.
The purpose of the project is to provide
information to an appropriate target audience
regarding the attributes, characteristics, and
proper use of the U.S. commodity. A QSP project
addresses a single market/commodity combination.
As a general matter, QSP projects should conform to the
following guidelines:
Projects should benefit the represented U.S. industry and not
a specific company or brand;
Projects should develop a new market for a U.S. product,
promote a new U.S. product, or promote a new use
for a U.S. product, rather than promote the
substitution of one established U.S. product for
another;
Sample commodities provided under a QSP project must be in
sufficient supply and available on a commercial
basis;
The QSP project must either subject the commodity sample to
further processing or substantial transformation
in the importing country, or the sample must be
used in technical seminars designed to
demonstrate to an appropriate target audience
the proper preparation or use of the sample in
the creation of an end product;
Samples provided in a QSP project shall not be directly used
as part of a retail promotion or supplied
directly to consumers. However, the end product,
that is, the product resulting from further
processing, substantial transformation, or a
technical seminar, may be provided to end-use
consumers to demonstrate to importers consumer
preference for that end product; and
Samples shall be in quantities less than a typical commercial
sale and limited to the amount sufficient to
achieve the project goal (e.g., not more than a
full commercial mill run in the
destination country).
QSP projects shall target foreign importers and audiences
who:
Have not previously purchased the U.S. commodity that will be
transported under QSP;
Are unfamiliar with the variety, quality attribute, or
end-use characteristic of the U.S. commodity;
Have been unsuccessful in previous attempts to import,
process, and market the U.S. commodity (e.g.,
because of improper specification, blending,
formulation, sanitary, or phytosanitary issues);
Are interested in testing or demonstrating the benefits of
the U.S. commodity; or
Need technical assistance in processing or using the U.S.
commodity.
II. Award Information
Under this announcement, the number of projects per
participant will not be limited. However,
individual projects will be limited to $75,000
of QSP reimbursement. Projects comprised of
technical preparation seminars, that is,
projects that do not include further processing
or substantial transformation, will be limited
to $15,000 of QSP reimbursement as these
projects require smaller samples. Financial
assistance will be made available on a
reimbursement basis only; and cash advances will
not be made available to any QSP participant.
All proposals will be reviewed against the evaluation
criteria contained herein and funds will be
awarded on a competitive basis. Funding for
successful proposals will be provided through
specific
agreements between the applicant and CCC. These
agreements will incorporate the proposal as
approved by FAS. FAS must approve in advance any
subsequent changes to the project.
III. Eligibility Information
1. Eligible Applicants: Any United States private or
Government entity with a demonstrated role or
interest in exporting U.S. agricultural
commodities 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 (SRTGs), and profit-making entities.
2. Cost Sharing: FAS considers the applicant's willingness to
contribute resources, including cash, goods, and
services of the U.S. industry and foreign third
parties, when determining which proposals are
approved for funding.
IV. Application and Submission Information
1. Address to Request Application Package: Organizations are
encouraged to submit their QSP applications to
FAS through the Unified Export Strategy (UES)
application Internet Web site. The UES allows
applicants to submit a single consolidated and
strategically coordinated proposal that
incorporates requests for funding and
recommendations for virtually all of the FAS
marketing programs, financial assistance
programs, and market access programs. The
suggested UES format encourages applicants to
examine the constraints or barriers to trade
that they face, identify activities that would
help overcome such impediments, consider the
entire pool of complementary marketing tools and
program resources, and establish realistic
export goals.
Applicants planning to use the Internet-based system must
contact the FAS/Program Operations Division at
(202) 720-4327 to obtain Web site access
information. The Internet-based application,
including a help file that contains step-by-step
instructions, may be found at the following URL
address:
http://www.fas.usda.gov/cooperators.html.
The FAS highly recommends applying via the Internet-based
application as this format virtually eliminates
paperwork and expedites the FAS processing and
review cycle. However, applicants also have the
option of submitting an electronic version of
their application to the FAS on compact disc
along with two paper copies. Organizations that
choose to submit applications on compact disc
can obtain the application format at the
following URL address:
http://www.fas.usda.gov/mos/programs/qsp_appl.html
or by contacting the Program Operations Division
at (202) 720-4327.
2. Content and Form of Application Submission: To be
considered for QSP, an applicant must submit to
FAS information detailed in this notice.
Additionally, in accordance with the Office of
Management and Budget's policy (68 FR 38402
(June 27, 2003)) regarding the need to identify
entities that are receiving government awards,
all applicants must submit a Dun and Bradstreet
Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number.
An applicant may request a DUNS number at no
cost by calling the dedicated toll-free DUNS
number request line at 1-866-705-5711.
Incomplete applications and applications that do
not otherwise conform to this announcement will
not be accepted for review.
FAS recommends that proposals contain, at a minimum, the
following:
(a) Organizational information, including:
Organization's name, address, Chief Executive Officer (or
designee), Federal Tax Identification Number
(TIN), and DUNS number;
Type of organization;
Name, telephone number, fax number, and e-mail address of the
primary contact person;
A description of the organization and its membership;
A description of the organization's prior export promotion
experience; and
A description of the organization's experience in
implementing an appropriate trade/technical
assistance component;
(b) Market information, including:
An assessment of the market;
A long-term strategy in the market; and
U.S. export value/volume and market share (historic and
goals) for 2003-2009;
(c) Project information, including:
A brief project title;
Amount of funding requested;
A brief description of the specific market development trade
constraint or opportunity to be addressed by the
project, performance measures for the years
2010-2012, which will be used to
measure the effectiveness of the project, a
benchmark performance measure for 2008, the
viability of long term sales to this market, the
goals of the project, and the expected benefits
to the represented industry;
A description of the activities planned to address the
constraint or opportunity, including how the
sample will be used in the end-use performance
trial, the attributes of the sample to be
demonstrated and its end-use benefit, and
details of the trade/technical servicing
component (including who will provide and who
will fund this component);
A sample description (i.e., commodity, quantity, quality,
type, and grade), including a justification for
selecting a sample with such characteristics
(this justification should explain in detail why
the project could not be effective with a
smaller sample);
An itemized list of all estimated costs associated with the
project for which reimbursement will be sought;
Beginning and end dates for the proposed project; and
The importer's role in the project regarding handling and
processing the commodity sample.
(d) Information indicating all funding sources and amounts to
be contributed by each entity that will
supplement implementation of the proposed
project. This may include the organization that
submitted the proposal, private industry
entities, host governments, foreign third
parties, CCC, FAS, or other Federal agencies.
Contributed resources may include cash and goods
and services.
3. Submission Dates and Times: All applications must be
received by 5 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, May
29, 2009. Applications received after this date
will be considered only if funds are still
available.
4. Funding Restrictions: Proposals that request more than
$75,000 of CCC funding for individual projects
will not be considered. Projects comprised of
technical preparation seminars will be limited
to $15,000 in QSP funding. CCC will not
reimburse expenditures made prior to approval of
a proposal or unreasonable expenditures.
5. Other Submission Requirements: All Internet-based
applications must be properly submitted by 5
p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, May 29, 2009.
All applications on compact disc (with two accompanying paper
copies) and any other form of application must
be received by 5 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, May
29, 2009, at the following address:
Hand Delivery (including FedEx, UPS, etc.): U.S. Department
of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service,
Office of Trade Programs, Program Operations
Division, Portals Office Building, Suite 400,
1250 Maryland Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20024.
V. Application Review Information
1. Criteria and Review Process: Following is a description of
the FAS process for reviewing applications and
the criteria for allocating available QSP funds.
FAS will use the following criteria in evaluating proposals:
The ability of the organization to provide an experienced
staff with the requisite technical and trade
experience to execute the proposal;
The extent to which the proposal is targeted to a market in
which the United States is generally
competitive;
The potential for expanding commercial sales in the proposed
market;
The nature of the specific market constraint or opportunity
involved and how well it is addressed by the
proposal;
The extent to which the importer's contribution in terms of
handling and processing enhances the potential
outcome of the project;
The amount of reimbursement requested and the organization's
willingness to contribute resources, including
cash, goods and services of the U.S. industry
and foreign third parties; and
How well the proposed technical assistance component assures
that performance trials will effectively
demonstrate the intended end-use benefit.
Proposals will be evaluated by the applicable
FAS Commodity Branches in the Cooperator
Programs Division. The Commodity Branches will
review each proposal against the factors
described above. The purpose of this review is
to identify meritorious proposals, recommend an
appropriate funding level for each proposal
based upon these factors, and submit proposals
and funding recommendations to the Deputy
Administrator, Office of Trade Programs.
2. Anticipated Announcement Date: Announcements of funding
decisions for QSP are anticipated during October
2009.
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 agreement to
each approved applicant. The approval letter and
agreement will specify the terms and conditions
applicable to the
project, including the levels of QSP funding and
any cost-share contribution requirements.
2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements: The
agreements will incorporate the details of each
project as approved by FAS. Each agreement will
identify terms and conditions pursuant to which
CCC will reimburse certain costs of each
project. Agreements will also outline the
responsibilities of the participant, including,
but not limited to, procurement (or arranging
for procurement) of the commodity sample at a
fair market price, arranging for transportation
of the commodity sample within the time limit
specified in the agreement (organizations should
endeavor to ship commodities within 6 months of
the effective date of agreement), compliance
with cargo preference requirements (shipment on
U.S. flag vessels, as required), compliance with
the Fly America Act requirements (shipment on
U.S. air carriers, as required), timely and
effective implementation of technical
assistance, and submission of a written
evaluation report within 90 days of expiration
of the agreement.
QSP agreements are subject to review and verification by the
FAS Compliance, Security and Emergency Planning
Division. Upon request, a QSP participant shall
provide to CCC the original documents which
support the participant's reimbursement claims.
CCC may deny a claim
for reimbursement if the claim is not supported
by adequate documentation.
3. Reporting: A written evaluation report must be submitted
within 90 days of the expiration of each
participant's QSP agreement. Evaluation reports
should address all performance measures that
were presented in the proposal.
VII. Agency Contact(s)
For additional information and assistance, contact the
Program Operations Division, Office of Trade
Programs, Foreign Agricultural Service, U.S.
Department of Agriculture by hand delivery or
courier at: Portals Office Building, Suite 400,
1250 Maryland Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20024,
by phone: (202) 720-4327, by fax: (202)
720-9361, or by e-mail:
podadmin@fas.usda.gov.
Signed at Washington, DC, on the 17th of April 2009.
Patricia R. Sheikh,
Acting Administrator, Foreign Agricultural Service, and Vice President,
Commodity Credit Corporation.
[FR Doc. E9-9695 Filed 4-28-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-10-P
