USDA Announces Funding Allocations To Promote Food, Agricultural Products Overseas
November 23, 2009The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) has announced funding allocations worth more than $7 million to 41 organizations. The fiscal year 2009 allocations were provided under FAS’s Technical Assistance for Specialty Crops Program (TASC) and Quality Samples Program (QSP) to help expand commercial export markets for U.S. agricultural commodities.
The TASC works to open, retain, and expand markets for U.S. specialty crops. Resources are provided to address barriers, including phytosanitary or related technical restrictions that prohibit or threaten the export of U.S. specialty crops. Specialty crops include all cultivated plants and their products produced in the United States except wheat, feed grains, oilseeds, cotton, rice, peanuts, sugar, and tobacco.
The QSP helps U.S. organizations supply samples of U.S. agricultural commodities and products to potential foreign buyers to be used in technical assistance projects displaying product quality and proper use as a means to encourage new purchases. The program supports projects that benefit whole industries rather than individual companies. USDA reimburses the costs for procuring and exporting the samples.
All applications undergo a competitive review process that evaluates the quality of the proposal, its likelihood to succeed, and the applicant’s knowledge of the export market. Qualification requirements include market analysis and a justification for federal funding.
