WASHINGTON, April 8, 2004 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced free access to a database of over 3,800 U.S. exporters and their products.

The U.S. Supplier List, maintained by USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service, helps connect potential buyers with U.S. suppliers. It contains more than 500 product categories for companies to include in their listing. More than 80 FAS overseas offices use the database to help export agents, trading companies, importers and foreign buyers locate U.S. suppliers. It is also used to recruit U.S. exporters to participate in market development activities such as overseas trade shows and missions.

"The U.S. Supplier List database is a tremendous tool to help our agricultural industry improve its competitive position in the foreign marketplace. It is part of our overall effort at USDA to provide tools to unleash the full potential of information technology," said FAS Administrator A. Ellen Terpstra.

The U.S. Supplier List can be accessed on the FAS Web site under "Exporter Assistance" at http://www.fas.usda.gov/agexport/exporter.html.

For further information on the list, contact Pamela Sherard at (202) 720-7409, or by e-mail at pamela.sherard@fas.usda.gov.

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PR 0067-04