[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 12 (Friday, January 17, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2484-2486]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-1120]


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 Notices
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
 or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 68, No. 12 / Friday, January 17, 2003 / 
Notices  

[[Page 2484]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Commodity Credit Corporation


Announcement of the Emerging Markets Program

AGENCY: Commodity Credit Corporation, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Commodity Credit Corporation is inviting private sector 
proposals for the 2003 Emerging Markets Program.

DATES: All proposals must be received by 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, 
March 10, 2003. Announcements of funding decisions for the EMP are 
anticipated in early July 2003.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 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: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Introduction

    The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) announces that proposals are 
being accepted for participation in the 2003 Emerging Markets Program 
(EMP). The purpose of the EMP is to assist U.S. organizations, public 
and private, to improve market access and to develop and promote U.S. 
agricultural products and/or processes in low to middle income 
countries that offer promise of emerging market opportunities. This is 
to be accomplished by providing, or paying the costs of, approved 
technical assistance activities in those emerging markets. The EMP is 
administered by the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS).
    The Act defines an emerging market as any country that the 
Secretary of Agriculture determines:
    (1) Is taking steps toward a market-oriented economy through the 
food, agriculture, or rural business sectors of the economy of the 
country; and
    (2) 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 with: (1) 
Per capita income less than $9,265 (the current ceiling on upper middle 
income economies as determined by the World Bank [World Development 
Indicators]); and (2) population greater than 1 million. Proposals may 
address suitable regional groupings, e.g., the islands of the Caribbean 
Basin.

Authority

    The EMP is authorized by section 1542 of the Food, Agriculture, 
Conservation and Trade Act of 1990, as amended.

Eligible Applicants, Commodities, and Activities

    Any United States agricultural or agribusiness organization, 
university, or state department of agriculture is eligible to 
participate in the EMP. Proposals from research and consulting 
organizations will be considered if they provide evidence of 
substantial participation by the U.S. industry. U.S. market development 
cooperators may seek funding to address priority, market specific 
issues and to undertake activities not suitable for funding under other 
FAS marketing programs, e.g., the Foreign Market Development Cooperator 
(Cooperator) Program and the Market Access Program (MAP).
    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. Following are examples of the types of 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 crises 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 and addressing 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, facilities and services. Examples: product needs 
assessments and market analysis; assessments for using facilities 
credits 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

[[Page 2485]]

used to support normal operating costs of individual organizations, nor 
as a source by which to recover 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 2003 Program Guidelines.

Project Suitability and Qualification Requirements

    The underlying premise of the EMP is that there are distinctive 
characteristics of emerging agricultural markets that necessitate or 
benefit significantly from U.S. governmental assistance before the 
private sector begins to develop these markets through normal corporate 
or trade promotional activities. The emphasis is on marketing 
opportunities where there are risks that the private sector would not 
normally undertake alone. The EMP is intended to supplement, not 
supplant, the efforts of the U.S. private sector, and it complements 
the efforts of other FAS marketing programs. Once a market access issue 
has been addressed by the EMP, further market development activities 
may be considered under other programs such as GSM-102 or GSM-103 
Export Credit Guarantee programs, the Facility Guarantee Program, the 
Supplier Credit Guarantee Program, the MAP, or the Cooperator Program.
    The following marketing criteria will be used to determine the 
suitability of projects for funding under the EMP:

1. Low U.S. market share and significant market potential.

    [sbull] Is there a significant lag in U.S. market share of a 
specific commodity in a given country or countries?
    [sbull] Is there an identifiable obstacle or competitive 
disadvantage facing U.S. exporters (e.g., competitor financing, 
subsidy, competitor market development activity) or a systemic obstacle 
to imports of U.S. products (e.g., inadequate distribution, 
infrastructure impediments, insufficient information, lack of financing 
options or resources)?
    [sbull] What is the potential of a project to generate a 
significant increase in U.S. agricultural exports in the near- to 
medium-term? (Estimates or projections of trade benefits to commodity 
exports, and the basis for evaluating such, must be included in EMP 
proposals.)

2. Recent change in a market.

    [sbull] Is there, for example, a change in a sanitary or 
phytosanitary trade barrier; a change in an import regime or the 
lifting of a trade embargo; or a shift in the political or financial 
situation in a country?

Application Requirements and Process

    It is highly recommended that any organization considering applying 
to the program first obtain a copy of the 2003 Program Guidelines. 
These guidelines contain information on requirements that a proposal 
must include in order to be considered for funding under the program, 
along with other important information.
    Requests for the 2003 Program Guidelines and additional information 
may be obtained from the Marketing Operations Staff at the address 
above. The guidelines are also available at the following URL address: 
http://www.fas.usda.gov/mos/em-markets/em-markets.html. To assist FAS 
in making determinations regarding funding, 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, and tax ID number; (d) 
primary contact person; (e) full title of proposal; (f) target 
market(s); (g) 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; infrastructure, financing, and 
regulatory impediments or other non-tariff barriers; (h) project 
objectives; (i) performance measures--benchmarks for quantifying 
progress in meeting the objectives; (j) rationale--explanation of the 
underlying reasons for the project proposal and its approach, the 
anticipated benefits, the current conditions in the target market(s) 
affecting the intended commodity or product, and any additional 
pertinent analysis; (k) clear demonstration that successful 
implementation will benefit a particular industry as a whole, not just 
the applicant(s); (l) 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; (m) specific description of activity(ies) to be undertaken; 
(n) time line(s) for implementation of the project, including start and 
end dates (start dates should be after July 15, 2003); (o) information 
on whether similar activities are or have previously been funded with 
USDA sources in target country/countries (e.g., under MAP and/or 
Cooperator Program); (p) detailed line item activity budget. Regarding 
the 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 cost for each, 
should be listed, clearly indicating which items are to be covered by 
EMP funding, which by the participating U.S. organization(s), and which 
by 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.
    This notice is complemented by concurrent notices announcing other 
foreign market development programs administered by the FAS including 
the MAP, the Cooperator Program, the Section 108 Foreign Currency 
Program, and the Quality Samples Program. For 2003, 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 these programs. 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. 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 are strongly urged to provide a printed or diskette version of 
each proposal (using Word or compatible format) to one of the following 
addresses:
    Hand Delivery (including FedEx, DHL, UPS, etc.): Marketing 
Operations Staff, Foreign Agricultural Service, U.S. Department of 
Agriculture, Room 4932-

[[Page 2486]]

South, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250-1042.
    U.S. Postal Delivery: Marketing Operations Staff, Foreign 
Agricultural Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, STOP 1042, 1400 
Independence Ave., SW., Washington, DC 20250-1042.

Allocation of Funds

    In general, all qualified proposals received before the application 
deadline will compete for EMP funding. 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 $500,000 and for a duration of one year 
or less. Multi-year proposals 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.
    In general, priority consideration will be given to proposals that 
identify and seek to address specific problems or constraints in rural 
business systems or food and agribusiness systems in emerging markets 
through technical assistance activities 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.
    A performance report detailing the results of each project 
supported with EMP funds must be submitted to the Marketing Operations 
Staff at the address above. Because public funds are used to support 
EMP projects, these reports will be made available to the public. 
Complete final financial reports are to accompany performance reports.

Closing Date for Applications

    The deadline for all applications to the EMP is 5 p.m. Eastern 
Standard Time, March 10, 2003. Announcements of funding decisions for 
the EMP are anticipated in early July 2003.

    Signed at Washington, DC, on January 8, 2003.
Kenneth J. Roberts,
Acting Administrator, Foreign Agricultural Service, and Vice President, 
Commodity Credit Corporation.
[FR Doc. 03-1120 Filed 1-16-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-10-P