WASHINGTON, June 23, 2008—The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) today announced funding allocations totaling more than $1.4 million to 13 organizations under the fiscal year 2008 Quality Samples Program (QSP). The allocations are being awarded to help expand export sales by promoting awareness of U.S. agricultural products to new foreign buyers.

"Access to overseas markets is critical to American agriculture," said FAS Administrator Mike Yost. "Partnership programs such as the Quality Samples Program are effective tools in building markets for U.S. products overseas, which benefit not only the food and agriculture sectors, but the economy as a whole."

Established in 1999, the QSP helps U.S. exporters provide samples of American commodities to foreign buyers, who have not previously used them, to encourage new purchases. The program supports projects that benefit whole industries rather than individual companies. When a project is finished, USDA reimburses the costs for procuring and exporting the samples.

Allocations were awarded competitively based on several criteria, including the likelihood that the projects will effectively demonstrate the benefits of the U.S. product, the applicant’s technical and trade experience, the potential for expanding commercial sales in the market, and the financial and in-kind contributions of applicants and importers.

For more information on the QSP, contact FAS’ Jarrod Jones at (202) 690-4058 or Nancy Hirschhorn at (202) 720-6896, or visit the FAS web site at http://www.fas.usda.gov/mos/programs/QSP.asp

A list of recipients follows.

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PR 0098-08