[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 57 (Tuesday, March 25, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14113-14114]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-7404]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
FY 1997 Emerging Markets Program and Solicitation of Proposals
AGENCY: Foreign Agricultural Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of FY 1997 Emerging Markets Program and solicitation of
proposals.
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SUMMARY: The Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) invites proposals to
promote the export of, and improve the market access for, U.S.
agricultural products to emerging markets in fiscal year (FY) 1997
under the Emerging Markets Program (the Program). The Program is
authorized by the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of
1990, as amended (the Act). Proposals will be considered from any
agricultural or agribusiness organization, with certain restrictions as
indicated below. Program funds available for FY 1997 under this notice
are approximately $4 million. All agricultural products are eligible
for consideration.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Additional information, including
Program guidelines, may be obtained from and applications submitted to:
Emerging Markets Office, Foreign Agricultural Service, Room 6506 South
Building, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 20250-1032,
Fax: (202) 690-4369.
INTENT OF THE PROGRAM: The premise of the Program is that emerging
markets can benefit from U.S. governmental assistance as the private
sector moves to develop these markets through normal corporate or trade
promotional activities.
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 significant market for United
States agricultural commodities or products of Untied States
agricultural commodities.
There is no set list of emerging market countries; however, the
following administrative criteria will be used to determine whether a
particular country will be considered an emerging market:
(1) Per capita income less than $8355;
(2) Population is greater than 1 million; and
(3) Positive economic growth factors.
The Program provides technical assistance and is not intended for
projects targeted at end-user consumers. Ineligible activities include
in-store promotions, restaurant promotions, advertising, and branded
promotions. Funding is on a project-by-project basis. The Program
complements the efforts of other FAS marketing programs. The emphasis
is on market access opportunities. Once a market access issue has been
addressed by this Program, further market development activities may be
considered under other programs such as GSM-102 or GSM-103 credit
programs, the Market Access Program (MAP), or the Foreign Market
Development Program (FMD).
Preference will be given to proposals based upon (1) clear
demonstration of the degree to which the private agribusiness is
willing to commit its own funds to seek export business in an emerging
market (leveraged funds), and (2) the immediacy and volume of U.S.
agricultural exports which will result from the completion of the
proposal.
Additional criteria considered in approving proposal are outlined
in the ``Applications'' section below.
ACTIVITIES: The Program includes but is not limited to the following
types of activities: (1) Projects that facilitate the collection and
use of market information that benefit both U.S. exporters and the
recipient country; (2) Projects to develop free trade policies that
benefit both U.S. exporters and the recipient country; (3) Short-term
training in agriculture and agribusiness that will benefit U.S.
exporters; (4) Projects that specifically address various constraints
to U.S. food, fish, and forestry product exports, including sanitary
and phytosanitary issues and other non-tariff barriers, such as
infrastructure-related issues; (5) Projects that directly assist U.S.
exporters through the funding of feasibility studies, markets research,
orientation visits, specialized training, business workshops, and other
forms of technical assistance; and (6) Projects and assessments to
improve overseas 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 for export credit
guarantees for commodities, facilities and services. In making
proposals, applicants may want to address market access opportunities
such as inadequate distribution, infrastructure (including government
infrastructure) impediments, insufficient information, sanitary and
phytosantiary concerns, quality issues, lack of financing options or
resources, need for establishing trade contacts, or lace of familiarity
with U.S. products.
ELIGIBLE ORGANIZATIONS: Any U.S. agricultural or agribusiness
organization may apply to the Program. U.S. participants in the FMD and
MAP programs, however, are eligible only for specific types of
activities such as quick response marketing initiatives, food safety
and regulation issues, and sectorial assessments for trade and
investment, not funded under FMD and MAP. They may, however,
participate in export-oriented projects with another agricultural
organization which has primary responsibility for the project(s).
DATES: Proposals for FY 1997 funding must be received not later than
April 30, 1997. Funding decisions are anticipated, but cannot be
guaranteed, within 45 days of this deadline.
APPLICATIONS: To assist FAS in making determinations under the Program,
FAS recommends that all applications contain complete information about
the proposed project and the applicant(s) and be not longer than ten
(10) pages in length. This information may include: name of the person/
organization submitting proposal; date of proposal; company/
organization affiliation and address (as applicable); telephone and fax
numbers; full title of proposal; precis of the proposal, including
objectives, proposed activities, benefits to U.S. agricultural exports,
target country/countries for proposed activities, projected starting
date for project, and funding amount requested; summary and detailed
description of proposed project; specific trade constraint addressed;
benefits to U.S. agricultural exports; agricultural trade data for
target country/countries, including U.S. market share; time line(s);
detailed project budget, including other sources of funding for the
project and contributions from participating organizations; whether
similar activities are or have previously been funded in target
country/countries (i.e., under MAP and/or FMD programs);
[[Page 14114]]
why participating organization(s) are unlikely to carry out activities
without Federal financial assistance; and qualifications of
applicant(s) (as attachment).
Signed at Washington, DC on March 17, 1997.
August Schumacher, Jr.,
Administrator, Foreign Agricultural Service.
[FR Doc. 97-7404 Filed 3-24-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-10-M
