Year 2000 Computing Challenge: Readiness of USDA High-Impact Programs
Improving, But More Action Is Needed (Letter Report, 09/30/1999,
GAO/AIMD-99-284).

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of
Agriculture's (USDA) actions to ensure the year 2000 readiness of its
high impact food assistance and food safety programs.

GAO noted that: (1) although USDA's lead agencies have taken actions and
made progress in ensuring the year 2000 readiness of high impact
programs assigned to them, USDA's Food and Nutrition Service and USDA's
Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) still have a long way to go
within the limited time remaining to fully meet their high impact
program responsibilities; (2) for example, the agencies have taken
action to identify partners involved in delivering the high impact
programs and to collect data on the year 2000 readiness of these
partners; (3) however, when identifying partners, FSIS did not identify
all federal agencies and foreign countries engaged in food safety; (4)
therefore, the year 2000 readiness of the safety of the nation's food
supply may not be assured, especially since the Food Safety Inspection
program is the only program on the Office of Management and Budget's
(OMB) list of 43 that addresses food safety; and (5) moreover, much work
remains because neither agency has defined the milestones for the
following activities called for by OMB: (a) completing complementary
business continuity and contingency plans; (b) publicly demonstrating
the year 2000 readiness of programs; and (c) developing a plan to ensure
the programs will operate effectively.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  AIMD-99-284
     TITLE:  Year 2000 Computing Challenge: Readiness of USDA
	     High-Impact Programs Improving, But More Action Is Needed
      DATE:  09/30/1999
   SUBJECT:  Computer software verification and validation
	     Food inspection
	     Food relief programs
	     Strategic information systems planning
	     Y2K
	     Reporting requirements
	     Systems conversions
	     Interagency relations
	     Systems compatibility
IDENTIFIER:  Food Stamp Program
	     USDA Electronic Benefit Transfer System
	     Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and
	     Children
	     USDA Food Safety Inspection Program
	     Y2K
	     WIC

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Report to the Chairman, Subcommittee on Department Operations, Oversight,
Nutrition, and Forestry, Committee on Agriculture, House of Representatives

September 1999

YEAR 2000 COMPUTING CHALLENGE

Readiness of USDA High-Impact Programs Improving, But More Action Is
Needed
*****************

*****************

GAO/AIMD-99-284

                                                 Accounting and Information
                                                        Management Division

B-283524

September 30, 1999

The Honorable Bob Goodlatte
Chairman
Subcommittee on Department Operations,
    Oversight, Nutrition, and Forestry
Committee on Agriculture
House of Representatives

Dear Mr. Chairman:

As you know, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued guidance to
federal agencies on March 26, 1999, for ensuring the Year 2000 readiness
of 42 high impact federal programs that are critical to public health,
safety, and well-being. (OMB later added a 43rd high impact program.) The
Department of Agriculture (USDA) has lead responsibility for four of these
high impact programs. USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is the lead
agency for three food assistance programs-Food Stamps; Special
Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); and
Child Nutrition./Footnote1/ USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS)
is the lead agency for the Food Safety Inspection Program. At your
request, we determined the actions being taken by USDA to ensure the Year
2000 readiness of its high impact food assistance and food safety programs.

On August 12, 1999, we provided a status briefing to your office on our
observations of USDA's efforts through July 1999. This report provides a
high-level summary of information presented at that briefing and presents
recommendations for assisting USDA in strengthening the Year 2000
readiness efforts of its high impact programs. Prior to briefing your
office, we briefed USDA's Undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer
Services, Undersecretary for Food Safety, and the Chief Information
Officier (CIO) on the results of our work. These officials agreed with our
recommendations. Our briefing is reprinted in appendix I.

Results in Brief

Although USDA's lead agencies have taken actions and made progress in
ensuring the Year 2000 readiness of high impact programs assigned to them,
FNS and FSIS still have a long way to go within the limited time remaining
to fully meet their high impact program responsibilities. For example, the
agencies have taken action to identify partners involved in delivering the
high impact programs and to collect data on the Year 2000 readiness of
these partners. However, when identifying partners, FSIS did not identify
all federal agencies and foreign countries engaged in food safety.
Therefore, the Year 2000 readiness of the safety of our nation's food
supply may not be assured, especially since the Food Safety Inspection
program is the only program on the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB)
list of 43 that addresses food safety.

Moreover, much work remains because neither agency has defined the
milestones for the following activities called for by OMB: (1) completing
complementary business continuity and contingency plans, (2) publicly
demonstrating the Year 2000 readiness of programs, and (3) developing a
plan to ensure the programs will operate effectively. As a result, we
recommend that USDA reach agreement with OMB officials on the necessary
partners to ensure the Year 2000 readiness of the food safety high impact
area and that USDA establish milestones for all of its remaining high
impact program activities. 

Background

OMB has identified 43 federal high impact programs critical to public
health, safety and well-being. OMB requested each lead agency to identify
and convene partners integral to program delivery, ensure that each
partner has an adequate Year 2000 plan, develop a plan to ensure each
program will operate effectively, and then jointly test that the federal
programs will work. OMB also asked that lead agencies publicly demonstrate
high impact program readiness by September 30, 1999. 

To track progress, OMB required lead agencies to provide a schedule and
milestones for key activities by April 15, 1999, and monthly status
reports detailing progress against the schedule. OMB also provided a
matrix to capture status information on partners for program delivery; key
activities to convene those partners; and milestones for testing system
operations between partners, completing complementary business continuity
and contingency plans, and demonstrating Year 2000 readiness with a public
program event.

Actions Being Taken by Lead Agencies to Ensure Year 2000 Readiness for
USDA's High-Impact Programs 

FNS and FSIS, the two lead agencies for USDA's high impact food safety and
food assistance programs, are taking actions to fulfill the requirements
established by OMB. For example, FNS-the lead agency for food stamps, WIC,
and child nutrition-identified partners for these programs to be states
with automated data processing systems and has its regions tracking the
states' Year 2000 progress./Footnote2/ As of June 1999, /Footnote3/ the
FNS regional offices reported 

o 29 states had Year 2000 compliant food stamp programs,

o 35 states had Year 2000 complaint WIC programs, and

o 38 states had Year 2000 compliant child nutrition programs. 

States that were not yet Year 2000 compliant reported that they expected
to become compliant by the end of the year. 

In addition, FNS asked its partners to provide written certifications that
their systems are Year 2000 ready or to develop business continuity and
contingency plans. At the end of our review, several states and
territories had not yet provided either certification letters or business
continuity and contingency plans and FNS determined that nearly all
contingency plans it received lacked detail and, therefore, needed
additional work. Also, FNS requested that 39 states and the District of
Columbia, who currently use electronic benefit transfer (EBT) processes
for program delivery, submit attestations by June 30, 1999, that their EBT
systems are Year 2000 compliant. However, by the end of July, FNS had
received attestations from only 10 states and the District of
Columbia./Footnote4/ FNS currently has a contractor reviewing Year 2000
design and test documentation for the three major EBT providers (Citibank,
Deluxe Electronic Payment Systems, and Transactive Corporation) and
expects to have results from the contractor in September 1999. 

FSIS-the lead agency for food safety inspection--defined its leadership
role as representing the food safety inspection area under its legislative
authority (e.g., inspection activities for meat, poultry, and processed
egg products). In doing so, the agency identified partners as those states
with approval from FSIS to operate their own inspection programs. Twenty-
five states fall into this category./Footnote5/ In July, FSIS expanded its
leadership role to include foods falling under the Food and Drug
Administration's (FDA) legislative authority (e.g., domestic and imported
foods, except meat, poultry, and processed egg products). FSIS now
identifies FDA as a partner in its report to OMB.

To carry out its high impact responsibilities, in June 1999 FSIS surveyed
the Year 2000 readiness of its 25 state food safety inspection partners.
At that time, all 25 states reported they had a Year 2000 plan; 13 states
reported they were Year 2000 ready; and 18 states reported that they had
business continuity and contingency plans. Also, FSIS has begun collecting
information from FDA on planned high impact program Year 2000 activities
and milestones covering FDA regulated products.

FSIS Has Not Identified All Federal Agencies and Foreign Countries
Involved in Food Safety as Partners

While FSIS identifies as its partners FDA and the 25 states with approval
from FSIS to operate their own inspection programs, this may not be
sufficient to ensure the Year 2000 readiness of the food safety area.
According to OMB's list of 43 high impact programs, Food Safety Inspection
is the only program addressing food safety. We reported in August
1998/Footnote6/ that in addition to FSIS and FDA, 10 other federal
agencies share responsibility for food safety./Footnote7/ FSIS has not
included any of these other federal agencies as its partners. 

According to FSIS officials, FDA is the only federal agency included as a
partner because the two agencies-FSIS and FDA--are the only ones with
direct responsibility for food safety inspections. However, FSIS had not
discussed and reached agreement with OMB on whether this is sufficient to
ensure the readiness of food safety or whether additional partners should
be identified. FSIS officials noted that while the agency had not included
as partners other federal agencies with food safety responsibilities, FSIS
was obtaining information on Year 2000 activities from the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service. However, FSIS said it did not plan to contact or include as
partners any of the remaining eight agencies we identified as involved in
food safety.

Moreover, FSIS had not identified as partners those 36 countries with
approval from FSIS to inspect meat and poultry products exported to the
United States. While FSIS had not included these 36 foreign countries as
partners, it (1) discussed with FDA and USDA's Foreign Agricultural
Service the need to contact foreign countries, (2) found that other
federal agencies, including the Foreign Agricultural Service, had already
been collecting Year 2000 information from foreign countries, and 
(3) determined that it could not use information already collected by
other agencies to assess the food safety readiness of the 36 countries.
Therefore, FSIS planned to send a letter to the countries to obtain
information on their Year 2000 readiness with respect to food safety. 

Milestones for High Impact Activities to Ensure Year 2000 Readiness Have
Not Yet Been Defined

FNS and FSIS have not yet defined milestones for completing activities to
ensure the Year 2000 readiness of their respective high impact programs.
Specifically, neither agency had yet established milestones for 
(1) completing complementary business continuity and contingency plans
with partners, (2) demonstrating readiness with a program event, and 
(3) developing a plan to ensure the program will operate effectively.
While FNS has not defined milestones for developing such a plan, the
agency was drafting a strategy for state Year 2000 activities to be
undertaken through the end of the calendar year. 

Also, neither agency included milestones for testing system operations
between partners. FNS said it had no plans to do joint testing because it
is testing its own internal systems, while FNS' partners are responsible
for testing their own systems. Additionally, FNS and its partners each
test their own data interfaces. At the time of our review, FNS had not
verified its partners' readiness by reviewing test results or obtaining an
independent review of program readiness.

FSIS said it had no plans to do joint testing because the agency had
already tested its own systems and FSIS does not have electronic data
interchanges with partners. Like FNS, at the time of our review, FSIS had
not verified its partners' readiness by reviewing their test results or
obtaining an independent review of program readiness. FSIS emphasized
though, that while it had not verified the overall readiness of its
partners, it had verified Year 2000 compliance for a major application
used by state partners in their inspection process.

Conclusions

Overall, USDA's lead agencies have made progress in ensuring the Year 2000
readiness of high impact programs, but they have a long way to go within
the limited time remaining to fully accomplish the high impact goals
assigned by OMB. Because FSIS has not included as partners those federal
agencies and foreign countries having food safety responsibilities for our
nation's food supply, Year 2000 readiness for food safety may not be
assured. Also, neither agency has established milestones for (1)
completing complementary business continuity and contingency plans with
partners, (2) demonstrating readiness with a public program event, and 
(3) developing a plan to ensure that programs can continue to operate in
the event of Year 2000 problems.

Recommendations

We recommend that the Secretary of Agriculture direct that 

o USDA's Undersecretary for Food Safety and CIO reach agreement with OMB
  on which federal agencies and foreign countries should be partners in
  helping to ensure the Year 2000 readiness of the food safety high
  impact area and

o USDA's Undersecretaries for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services and
  for Food Safety, in conjunction with the CIO, establish specific
  milestones to (1) complete complementary business continuity and
  contingency plans, (2) demonstrate readiness with a program event, and
  (3) develop an overall plan to ensure Year 2000 readiness for each
  program, and then report regularly to the Secretary on progress made to
  meet these recommendations. 

Prior to our briefing to your office, we provided a copy of the briefing
materials to USDA's Undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer
Services; Undersecretary for Food Safety; and CIO. These officials agreed
with our recommendations and we have incorporated their comments as
appropriate. 

Objective, Scope, and Methodology

As requested, our objective was to determine actions being taken by USDA
to ensure the Year 2000 readiness of high impact food assistance and food
safety programs. To do this, we reviewed OMB and USDA Year 2000 high
impact guidance and discussed how this guidance was being implemented with
FNS and FSIS officials and with USDA Year 2000 program officials in USDA's
CIO office. To determine the reported status of agency actions-such as
identifying and convening partners, assessing partner readiness, and
establishing business continuity and contingency plans-as well as other
steps necessary to ensure the continuation of the high impact programs
beyond the Year 2000, we reviewed USDA planning documents, status reports,
and other information collected by FNS and FSIS for each high impact
program area. 

We also reviewed surveys and contractor reports on Year 2000 readiness
activities of key FNS and FSIS program partners and discussed Year 2000-
related food safety activities with FDA officials. In addition, we
compared the information we collected with OMB and departmental guidance
to determine the agencies' progress in meeting their overall high impact
program objectives. We did not independently verify reported status
information. 

We conducted our review from May 1999 through July 1999 in accordance with
generally accepted government auditing standards. Our work was done at
headquarters offices of USDA's FNS and FSIS, and USDA's Office of the
Chief Information Officer in Washington, D.C.; FDA headquarters offices in
Washington D.C.; and FNS offices in Alexandria, Virginia.

We are providing copies of this report to Representative Eva Clayton,
Ranking Minority Member, Subcommittee on Department Operations, Oversight,
Nutrition, and Forestry, House Committee on Agriculture. We are sending
copies to Senators Richard Lugar, Chairman, and Tom Harkin, Ranking
Minority Member, Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry;
Senators Robert Bennett, Chairman, and Christopher Dodd, Ranking Minority
Member, Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem;
Representatives Larry Combest, Chairman, and Charles Stenholm, Ranking
Minority Member, House Committee on Agriculture; and Representatives
Steven Horn, Chairman, and Jim Turner, Ranking Minority Member,
Subcommittee on Government Management, Information and Technology, House
Committee on Government Reform. We are also sending copies to the
Honorable Daniel R. Glickman, Secretary of Agriculture; the Honorable
Donna Shalala, the Secretary of Health and Human Services; the Honorable
Jane Henney, Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration; and the
Honorable Jacob Lew, Director, Office of Management and Budget; and other
interested parties. Copies will be made available to others upon request. 

If you have any questions on matters discussed in this letter, please call
me at (202) 512-6408 or Stephen A. Schwartz, Senior Assistant Director at 
(202) 512-6213. Key contributors to this assignment were Seth Goodman,
Troy Hottovy, Heather McIntyre, and Mark Shaw.

Sincerely yours,

*****************

*****************

Joel C. Willemssen
Director, Civil Agencies 
Information Systems

--------------------------------------
/Footnote1/-^Child Nutrition includes programs such as National School
  Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Special Milk Program, Child and
  Adult Care Food Program, Summer Food Service Program, and Nutrition
  Education and Training Program. 
/Footnote2/-^This actually includes all 50 states, the District of
  Columbia (D.C.), and three territories-Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin
  Islands. 
/Footnote3/-^This is the latest data available from FNS.
/Footnote4/-^According to FNS, Colorado, Kentucky, Missouri, New
  Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, and
  Vermont have provided attestations.
/Footnote5/-^In states that do not have approved inspection programs, FSIS
  performs all inspections.
/Footnote6/-^Food Safety: Opportunities to Redirect Federal Resources and
  Funds Can Enhance Effectiveness (GAO/RCED-98-224, Aug. 6, 1998).
/Footnote7/-^The 10 federal agencies include Centers for Disease Control
  and Prevention; Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service; Grain
  Inspection, Packers, and Stockyards Administration; Agricultural
  Marketing Service; Agricultural Research Service; National Marine
  Fisheries Service; Environmental Protection Agency; Federal Trade
  Commission; U.S. Customs Service; and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and
  Firearms.

BRIEFING TO THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON DEPARTMENT OPERATIONS, OVERSIGHT,
NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY, HOUSE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
===========================================================================

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