(A) Disclosure of Program Information.
(1) Documents submitted to CCC by participants are subject to
the provisions of the Freedom of lnfomlation Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552,7 CFR part
1, subpart A-Official Records, and specifically 7 CFR 1.11, "Handling
Infomlation from a Private Business." (
2) The results of any activity conducted in whole or in part
under the terms of a program agreement, including any information gained or
gathered through the use of program assistance and any research conducted under
the terms of a program agreement, shall be the property of the U.S. Government,
and ownership shall be retained by the U.S. Government following the expiration
or termination of the program agreement.
(B) Ethical Conduct.
(1) A participc;int shall conduct business in accordance with
the laws and regulations of the country in which an activity is carried out. (2)
A participant shall not use program activities or program funds to promote
private self-interests or to conduct private business. (3) Participants, members
of the participating organization, and their affiliates are prohibited from
using any association with this program to make export sales of any agricultural
~-~; " f: ~~' F\ - commodities or products covered under the terms of the
agreement and from using any association with this program to charge a fee for
facilitating an export sale of any agricultural commodities or products covered
under the terms of the agreement. A participant may, however, collect check-off
funds and membership fees that are required for membership in the participating
organization. For the purposes of this paragraph, "affiliate" means
any partnership, association, company, corporation, trust, or any other such
party in which the participant or its membership has an investment, other than
in a mutual fund. (4) A participant shall immediately report any actions or
circumstances that have a bearing on the propriety of the program in writing to
FAS. (c) ContractinQ: Procedures. (1) Neither CCC nor any other agency of the
U.S. Government or any official or employee of CCC or the U.S. Government has
any obligation or responsibility with respect to participant contracts with
third parties. (2) Participants shall ensure to the greatest extent possible
that the terms, conditions and costs of contracts constitute the most economical
and effective use of program funds. (3) Any fee for professional and consulting
services reimbursed in any part with program funds must be covered by a written
contract. (4) The CCC will not reimburse the portion of daily contractor fees
which exceeds the daily gross salary of a GS-15, Step 10, U.S. Government
employee on the date the fee is earned. (5) A participant shall: (i) Ensure that
all expenditures for goods and services reimbursed by CCC in excess of $25.00
are documented by a purchase order, invoice or contract, and that such
documentation ~' E'i" .!; ;- demonstrates competition in acquiring the
goods or services; (ii) Ensure that no employee or officer participates in the
selection or award of a contract in which such employee or officer, or the
employee's or officer's family or partner(s), has a financial interest; (iii)
Conduct all contracting in an openly competitive manner. Individuals who develop
or draft specifications, requirements, statements of work, invitations for bids
and requests for proposals for procurement of any goods or services shall be
excluded from competition for such procurement; r (iv) Base solicitations for
professional and technical services on a clear and accurate description of the
requirements for the services to be procured; (v) Perform some form of price or
cost analysis, such as a comparison of price quotations to market prices or
other price indicia, to determine the reasonableness of the offered prices; and,
(vi) Provide documentation to demonstrate that the participant has advertised to
obtain competitive bids for any procurement in the amount of $25,000 or more.
.< d) fuW. (1) All travel shall conform to U.S. Federal Travel Regulations
(41 CFR parts 301 through 304) and air travel also shall conform to the
requirements of the "Fly America Act" (49 U.S.C.40118), (2)
Notwithstanding the foregoing, reimbursement for the cost of air travel will be
limited to the lesser of the actual expense or the full fare economy rate
available at the time the expense was incurred. Further, reimbursement of any
per diem expenses claimed will be limited to the rates prescribed by the U ,S.
General Services Administration, the U.S. Department of State or the U.S.
Department of Defense, as applicable. (3) The participant shall notify the FAS
overseas office(s) in the destination country(ies) in writing in advance of any
proposed international travel. Failure to provide advance notification of
international travel may result in the disallowance of expenses related to the
travel