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Linking U.S.
Agriculture to the World
A Vital Role in Farm Exports
The Foreign
Agricultural Service (FAS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) works to improve foreign market access for U.S. products, build
new markets, improve the competitive position of U.S. agriculture in
the global marketplace, and provide food aid and technical assistance
to foreign countries.
FAS has the
primary responsibility for USDA’s international activities—market
development, trade agreements and negotiations, and the collection and
analysis of statistics and market information. It also administers
USDA’s export credit guarantee and food aid programs, and helps
increase income and food availability in developing nations by
mobilizing expertise for agriculturally led economic growth.
FAS also enhances
U.S. agriculture’s competitiveness
by providing linkages to global resources and international
organizations.
Representing U.S. Agriculture Abroad
FAS has a
global
network of agricultural economists, marketing experts, negotiators,
and other specialists that few organizations can equal. FAS
agricultural counselors, attachés, trade officers, and locally
employed FAS staff stationed in over 90 countries support U.S.
agricultural interests.
In addition to
agricultural affairs offices in U.S. embassies, agricultural trade
offices also have been established in a number of key markets and
function as service centers for U.S. exporters and foreign buyers
seeking market information. FAS’ overseas offices serve as the
Department’s “eyes and ears” for monitoring international issues. Our
counselors and attachés work hand-in-hand with the country’s
ambassador and other components of its team. They work to ensure that
agriculture’s market access, food aid, capacity building,
biotechnology, and information gathering remain at the forefront. When
problems arise in our export markets, counselors and attachés play a
critical role in providing immediate assistance to our exporters.
International Trade Policy
FAS coordinates
and directs USDA’s responsibilities in international trade
negotiations, working closely with the U.S. Trade Representative’s
office. Trade policy experts at FAS help identify—and work to
reduce—foreign trade barriers and other practices and policies that
hinder U.S. agricultural exports.
FAS is the enquiry
point for World Trade Organization (WTO) sanitary and phytosanitary
issues and technical barriers to trade. As such, the agency serves as
the official conduit for notifications and comments about these
measures.
Trade information
sent to Washington, DC, by FAS personnel overseas is used to develop
and hone strategies to increase market access, monitor trade
agreements, and improve programs and policies to make U.S. farm
products more competitive.
Collecting the Data
Reports prepared
by our overseas offices cover changes in policies and other
developments that could affect U.S. agricultural exports. FAS staff in
U.S. embassies around the world assess U.S. export marketing
opportunities and respond to the daily informational needs of those
who develop, initiate, monitor, and evaluate U.S. food and
agricultural policies and programs.
In addition to
data collection, FAS also maintains a worldwide agricultural reporting
system based on information from U.S. agricultural traders, remote
sensing systems, and other sources.
Analyzing Production and Trade
Analysts in
Washington, DC, prepare production forecasts, assess export marketing
opportunities, and track changes in policies affecting U.S.
agricultural exports and imports. Policy makers, program
administrators, farmers, exporters, and others rely on these
analyses
to plan activities and to make decisions.
Promoting and
Assisting U.S. Agriculture
FAS programs help U.S. exporters develop and maintain markets for hundreds of food and agricultural
products, from bulk commodities to brand name items.
The largest FAS
promotional programs are the Market Access Program (MAP) and the
Foreign Market Development Cooperator Program (FMD). Promotional
activities under these two programs are carried out chiefly in
cooperation with agricultural trade associations, State-regional trade
groups, small businesses, and cooperatives that plan, manage, and
contribute staff resources and funds to support these efforts. FAS
also provides guidance to help exporters locate buyers and provides
assistance through a variety of other methods. Additionally, FAS
supports U.S. participation in several major
trade shows and a number
of single-industry exhibitions each year.
The Quality
Samples Program (QSP) stimulates interest in and demand for U.S.
agricultural products. It does this by helping trade organizations
provide small samples of their agricultural products to potential
importers in emerging markets overseas.
The Farm Security
and Rural Investment Act of 2002 created the Technical Assistance for
Specialty Crops Program (TASC) and reauthorized the Emerging Markets
Program (EMP). TASC assists U.S. organizations by providing funding
for projects that address sanitary and phytosanitary and technical
barriers that prohibit or threaten the export of U.S. specialty crops.
EMP helps U.S. public and private organizations develop, maintain, or
enhance U.S. exports to low- and middle-income countries that have or
are developing market-oriented economies. These countries hold great
potential for becoming long-term, viable markets.
USDA also uses the
Dairy Export Incentive Program (DEIP) to foster sales in markets where
the competitiveness of U.S. dairy products is impeded by subsidized
products from other countries. Under this program, USDA pays cash to
exporters as bonuses, allowing them to sell certain U.S. dairy
products at prices lower than the exporter’s costs of acquiring them.
Commercial Export Financing
FAS provides U.S.
agricultural exporters with short- and intermediate-term commercial
financing support through Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) export
credit guarantee programs. The Export Credit Guarantee Program
(GSM-102) protects U.S. exporters or U.S. financial institutions
against risk if the importer’s foreign bank fails to make payment.
This program is designed to expand and maintain foreign markets for
U.S. agricultural commodities, and can help developing nations make
the transition from concessional financing to cash purchases.
The Facility
Guarantee Program (FGP) provides payment guarantees to facilitate the
financing of U.S. goods and services exported to improve or establish
agriculture-related facilities in emerging markets.
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Donations and
Concessional Sales
USDA shares
administration of U.S. food aid programs with the U.S. Agency for
International Development. USDA channels food aid through four
programs to help needy people around the world:
- Food
for Progress Program provides donations of agricultural commodities to
needy countries to encourage economic and agricultural reforms that
foster free enterprise.
- Section
416(b) programs provide donations of Commodity Credit
Corporation-owned commodities in surplus of domestic program
requirements for assistance to developing and friendly countries.
- McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition
Program provides for donations of U.S. agricultural products and
financial and technical assistance for school feeding and maternal and
child nutrition projects in low-income, food-scarce countries
committed to universal education.
- Title I
of Public Law 480 (Food for Peace) provides for long-term concessional
sales of U.S. agricultural commodities to support economic growth in
countries that need food assistance.
Agricultural
Linkages Through International Cooperation
FAS carries out a
broad array of international training, technical assistance, and other
collaborative activities with developing and transitional countries to
facilitate trade and promote food security. In order to increase the
benefits to developing nations participating in global agricultural
markets, FAS offers numerous trade capacity-building programs.
FAS helps nations
understand and prepare for meeting World Trade Organization (WTO)
requirements. FAS helps countries focus on the critical role science
and technology can play in raising agricultural productivity in an
environmentally sustainable
way. This includes assistance in developing appropriate policies and
institutions to facilitate research and technology transfer in order
to increase incomes, reduce hunger, and improve nutrition.
FAS’ Cochran
Fellowship Program brings agriculturists to the United States to give
them exposure to such areas as U.S. economic policies, agricultural
business practices and products, and biotechnology benefits and
safeguards.
Around the globe,
FAS responds to special needs as they arise, such as contributing to
reconstruction efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, including helping them
develop appropriate agricultural institutions and policies.
Getting the Information
FAS produces
hundreds of documents each year that chart and analyze production,
consumption, trade flows, and market opportunities for about 100
agricultural products.
FAS informational
products, which are available online at
www.fas.usda.gov, include:
- Periodical reports that present information on U.S. and world
production, supply and demand, and trade for many commodities, as well
as the latest trade policy developments and export marketing
information.
-
FAS Worldwide, a quarterly online
magazine (formerly AgExporter) featuring news
about worldwide agricultural markets, trade policy, international linkages and
food aid.
-
Global
Agricultural Information Network (GAIN),
reports produced by FAS overseas offices covering a wide range of international
agricultural subjects, including commodity production, foreign market
conditions, and rules affecting international agricultural trade.
- Market- and commodity-specific reports.
-
Trade leads, foreign buyers list, U.S. suppliers list, and other practical information.
- News releases and program announcements about FAS programs and policies.
FAS information is available through:
- FAS home page: http://www.fas.usda.gov
- Subscriptions from the National Technical Information Service, Tel.:
(800) 363-2068 or (703) 605-6060. TDD for those with hearing
impairments only, Tel.: (703) 487-4639.
See guidelines for requesting corrections to information distributed by FAS.
Challenges for the Future
The major services of FAS -- market
intelligence, access, and development; trade policy formulation and
monitoring; food aid; and linkages -- are
expected to gain in importance in the years ahead as U.S. agricultural
exporters work to overcome
international barriers and succeed in world markets.
The
U.S. Department of Agriculture prohibits discrimination in all its programs
and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion,
age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or
family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons
with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program
information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s
TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD).
To
file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil
Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence Avenue, SW,
Washington DC 20250-9410 or call (202) 720-5964 (voice and TDD). USDA is an
equal opportunity provider and employer.
Revised September
2005
Updated June 2008
FAS Brochure in .pdf
(requires
Adobe Acrobat
Reader)
FAS slide show (for
online viewing, only; download MS PowerPoint presentation;
October 2006)
FAS Coloring and Activity Book
FAS 50th Anniversary
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