[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 12 (Friday, January 17, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2487-2489]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-1118]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Commodity Credit Corporation


Announcement of the Quality Samples Program

AGENCY: Commodity Credit Corporation, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Commodity Credit Corporation is inviting proposals for the 
Quality Samples Program.

DATES: All proposals must be received by 5 p.m. eastern standard time, 
March 10, 2003.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marketing Operations Staff, Foreign 
Agricultural Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Room 4932-S, STOP 
1042, 1400 Independence Ave., SW., Washington, DC 20250-1042, (202) 
720-4327.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Introduction

    The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) announces that proposals may 
be submitted for participation in the Quality Samples Program (QSP). 
The 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. All proposals will be reviewed 
against the evaluation criteria

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contained herein and funds will be awarded on a competitive basis. 
Financial assistance will be made available on a reimbursement basis. 
The QSP is administered by the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS).
    Under the QSP, CCC enters into agreements with those entities whose 
proposals have been accepted. The QSP agreement between CCC and the 
participant will include the maximum amount of CCC funds that may be 
used to reimburse certain activity costs that have been approved by CCC 
and paid by the QSP participant. 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 and the costs of transporting the samples 
domestically to the port of export and then to the foreign port 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.
    QSP agreements are subject to review and verification by the FAS 
Compliance Review Staff. 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. Cash advances will 
not be made available to any QSP participant.
    This notice supercedes any prior notices concerning the QSP.

Authority

    The QSP is authorized under section 5(f) of the CCC Charter Act, 15 
U.S.C. 714c(f).

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:
    [sbull] Projects should benefit the represented U.S. industry and 
not a specific company or brand;
    [sbull] 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;
    [sbull] Sample commodities provided under a QSP project must be in 
sufficient supply and available on a commercial basis;
    [sbull] 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;
    [sbull] 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
    [sbull] 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 target audiences who:
    [sbull] Have not previously purchased the U.S. commodity which will 
be transported under the QSP;
    [sbull] Are unfamiliar with the variety, quality attribute, or end-
use characteristic of the U.S. commodity which will be transported 
under the QSP;
    [sbull] Have been unsuccessful in previous attempts to import, 
process, and market the U.S. commodity which will be transported under 
the QSP (e.g., because of improper specification, blending, or 
formulation; or sanitary or phytosanitary (SPS) issues);
    [sbull] Are interested in testing or demonstrating the benefits of 
the U.S. commodity which will be transported under the QSP; or
    [sbull] Need technical assistance in processing or using the U.S. 
commodity that will be transported under the QSP.

    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.

Proposal Process

    In order to be considered for participation in the QSP, interested 
parties should submit proposals to FAS as described in this notice. QSP 
proposals must contain complete information about the proposed 
projects. This notice is complemented by concurrent notices announcing 
four other foreign market development programs administered by FAS, 
including the Market Access Program (MAP), the Foreign Market 
Development Cooperator (Cooperator) Program, the Emerging Markets 
Program, the Technical Assistance for Specialty Crops Program, and the 
Section 108 Foreign Currency Program.
    The MAP and Cooperator Program notices detail a Unified Export 
Strategy (UES) application process 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. Some applicants to the QSP, particularly 
those who also are applying for funding under the MAP or Cooperator 
Program, are encouraged to use the UES application process. The 
Internet-based UES application, including step-by-step instructions for 
its use, is located at the following URL address: http://www.fas.usda.gov/cooperators.html. Other applicants should follow the 
application procedures contained in this notice.
    Entities interested in participating in the QSP are not required to 
submit proposals in any specific format; however, FAS recommends that 
proposals contain, at a minimum, the following:

(a) Organizational information, including:
    [sbull] Organization's name, address, Chief Executive Officer (or 
designee), and Federal Tax Identification Number (TIN);
    [sbull] Type of organization;
    [sbull] Name, telephone number, fax number, and e-mail address of 
the primary contact person;
    [sbull] A description of the organization and its membership;

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    [sbull] A description of the organization's prior export promotion 
experience; and
    [sbull] A description of the organization's experience in 
implementing an appropriate trade/technical assistance component;

(b) Market information, including:
    [sbull] An assessment of the market;
    [sbull] A long-term strategy in the market; and
    [sbull] U.S. export value/volume and market share (historic and 
goals) for 1999-2004;

(c) Project information, including:
    [sbull] A brief project title;
    [sbull] Amount of funding requested;
    [sbull] A brief description of the specific market development 
trade constraint or opportunity to be addressed by the project, 
performance measures for the years 2003-2005 which will be used to 
measure the effectiveness of the project, a benchmark performance 
measure for 2002, the viability of long term sales to this market, the 
goals of the project, and the expected benefits to the represented 
industry;
    [sbull] 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 their end-use benefit, and details of the trade/
technical servicing component (including who will provide and who will 
fund this component);
    [sbull] 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);
    [sbull] An itemized list of all estimated costs associated with the 
project for which reimbursement will be sought; and
    [sbull] 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 or goods and services.

Review Process

    Proposals will be evaluated by the applicable FAS commodity 
division. The divisions will review each proposal against the factors 
described below. The purpose of this review is to identify meritorious 
proposals, recommend an appropriate funding level for each proposal 
based upon these factors, and submit the proposals and funding 
recommendations to the Deputy Administrator, Commodity and Marketing 
Programs.
    FAS will use the following criteria in evaluating proposals:
    [sbull] The ability of the organization to provide an experienced 
staff with the requisite technical and trade experience to execute the 
proposal;
    [sbull] The extent to which the proposal is targeted to a market in 
which the United States is generally competitive;
    [sbull] The potential for expanding commercial sales in the 
proposed market;
    [sbull] The nature of the specific market constraint or opportunity 
involved and how well it is addressed by the proposal;
    [sbull] The extent to which the importer's contribution in terms of 
handling and processing enhances the potential outcome of the project;
    [sbull] The amount of reimbursement requested and the 
organization's willingness to contribute resources, including cash and 
goods and services of the U.S. industry and foreign third parties; and
    [sbull] How well the proposed technical assistance component 
assures that performance trials will effectively demonstrate the 
intended end-use benefit.

Highest priority for funding under this announcement will be given to 
meritorious proposals which target countries which meet either of the 
following criteria:

    [sbull] Per capita income less than $9,265 (the ceiling on upper 
middle income economies as determined by the World Bank [World 
Development Indicators 2001]); and population greater than 1 million. 
Proposals may address suitable regional groupings, for example, the 
islands of the Caribbean Basin; or
    [sbull] U.S. market share of imports of the commodity identified in 
the proposal of 10 percent or less.

Agreements

    Following approval of a proposal, CCC will enter into an agreement 
with the organization that submitted the proposal. 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 effective date of 
agreement), compliance with cargo preference requirements (shipment on 
United States flag vessels, as required), compliance with the Fly 
America Act requirements (shipment on United States 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. Evaluation reports should address all 
performance measures which were presented in the proposal.

Closing Date for Proposals

    All Internet-based applications must be properly submitted by 5 
p.m. Eastern Standard Time, March 10, 2003. All paper copy proposals 
must be submitted in duplicate and received by 5 p.m. Eastern Standard 
Time, March 10, 2003, at one of the following addresses:
    Hand Delivery (including FedEx, UPS, etc.): U.S. Department of 
Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service, Marketing Operations Staff, 
Room 4932-S, 14th and 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.

    Signed at Washington, DC, on January 8, 2003.
Kenneth J. Roberts,
Acting Administrator, Foreign Agricultural Service, and Vice President, 
Commodity Credit Corporation.
[FR Doc. 03-1118 Filed 1-16-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-10-P