United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Office of the Comptroller General author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1999-01-01 monographic deposited born digital 52 p. GA 1.13:OCG-99-2 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-OCG-99-2 P0b002ee18037bc5d f:cg99002 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-OCG-99-2 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-OCG-99-2 OCG-99-2 Management information systems Agricultural programs Risk management Food inspection Financial management Farm credit Information resources management Accountability Strategic planning Customer service Food Stamp Program USDA Telecommunications Action Plan Y2K National Performance Review USDA Service Center Implementation Initiative Performance and Accountability Series 1999 FTS Federal Telecommunications System 2000 Letter Report OCG As part of its Performance and Accountability Series, GAO provided information on the major management challenges and program risks facing the Department of Agriculture (USDA).<p/>GAO noted that: (1) USDA's field structure for managing farm programs is obsolete and inefficient; (2) the increasing incidence of foodborne illness has heightened concerns about the federal government's effectiveness in ensuring the safety of food; (3) this concern has resulted in the use of more scientific approaches to meat and poultry inspections; (4) however, these changes do not address the fundamental problem of having the responsibilities for food safety scattered among 12 different federal agencies, which results in inconsistent oversight, poor coordination, and the inefficient allocation of resources; (5) inefficiency and waste throughout the Forest Service's operations and organization have cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars; (6) while the Forest Service has made progress in recent years, it is still far from achieving financial accountability; (7) USDA continues to carry a high level of delinquent farm loan debt and to write off large amounts of unpaid loans held by problem borrowers; (8) millions of dollars in overpayments in the Food Stamp Program occur because eligible persons are paid too much or because ineligible individuals improperly participated in the Food Stamp Program; (9) USDA has a long-standing history of deficiencies in its accounting and financial management systems; (10) USDA has an action plan for resolving its accounting and financial systems' deficiencies that calls for full implementation by fiscal year 2000; (11) USDA is not effectively managing its telecommunications systems and services; (12) to respond to these problems, USDA has identified improvements it states could reduce its annual $200-plus million telecommunications investment by as much as $70 million each year; (13) several management weaknesses raise concerns regarding the extent to which USDA's service center information technology (IT) modernization effort, which could ultimately cost more than $3 billion, will achieve an adequate return on its investment or significantly improve customer service; (14) USDA needs to develop a concept of operations and new mission-critical business processes for providing one-stop service to better ensure the success of its IT modernization efforts; (15) while USDA has begun to address the year 2000 problem, it still faces significant challenges renovating and replacing all its mission-critical systems in time and taking the necessary steps to ensure that vital public services are not disrupted; and (16) USDA's 1998 strategic plan did not address certain management problems. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-OCG-99-2/html/GAOREPORTS-OCG-99-2.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-OCG-99-2/pdf/GAOREPORTS-OCG-99-2.pdf GAO/OCG-99-2 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-OCG-99-2 Letter Report GAO/OCG-99-2; Major Management Challenges and Program Risks: Department of Agriculture; Management information systems Agricultural programs Risk management Food inspection Financial management Farm credit Information resources management Accountability Strategic planning Customer service Food Stamp Program USDA Telecommunications Action Plan Y2K National Performance Review USDA Service Center Implementation Initiative Performance and Accountability Series 1999 FTS Federal Telecommunications System 2000 Public Law 103-354 Public Law 105-277