Non-Fat Dry Milk Cable
Availability of Instant Corn Soy Milk (ICSM), Corn Soy Milk (CSM), and Wheat Soy Milk (WSM)
For Public Law (P.L.) 480 Title II Programs
I. Summary: This is an Information Notificiation to USAID Missions/Posts
and Cooperating Partners concerning the availability of ICSM, CSM, and WSM,
in addition to Corn Soy Blend(CSB) and Wheat Soy Blend (WSB), for P.L. 480
TITLE II Programs administered by USAID'S Bureau for Humanitarian Response,
Office of Food for Peace (BHR/FFP). BHR/FFP Guidance on Non-Fat Dry Milk
(NFDM) is available on USAID'S external website and in a Federal Register
Notice for Public Review/Comment through 10/24/01. The Composition and Nutrition
Information as well as information on appropriate end uses of these products
will be added to USAID'S updated Commodities Reference Guide [CRG], when
issued in the near future. Missions/Posts and cooperating sponsors may obtain
information from BHR/FFP pending formal issuance of the CRG.
II. Background: During the 1980'S, NFDM, ICSM, CSM, and WSM Vitamin/Mineral
enriched, blended food commodities were in peak demand and use under TITLE
II Programs. At that time, these products were readily procured by the
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) at reasonable cost to the U.S. Government
(USG), and were widely used in P.L. 480 Programs. By the early-1990'S, however,
these products were abruptly discontinued for export due to limited availability
of NFDM, rising USG price supports for NFDM, and concerns over possible mis-handling/mis-use
of NFDM as a breastmilk substitute in field programs. In response, the U.S.
Industry rebounded in meeting On-Going Food Aid Programming needs for blended/fortified
commodities with large-scale production of CSB and WSB as like/kind substitutes
for ICSM/CSM and WSM. To date, CSB and WSB have been primarily manufactured
for, and shipped to TITLE II Programs. CSB and WSB employ the same end-use
versatility characteristics for preparing, cooking, and storing CSM and WSM.
With minimal processing/handling at destination, CSB and WSB are generally
consumed as a Porridge, or as a food supplement/enhancer (when mixed with
other food commodities, e.g., refined vitamin-fortified vegetable oil), or
as Ready-to-Eat Products for vulnerable populations in emergencies, or for
general distribution purposes.
III. New Product Initiative for ICSM, CSM, AND WSM: In February
2001, USDA announced the availability of more than 300,000 MTS of NFDM for
immediate use, with projected NFDM stock inventories available for the next
24 to 36 months. Current year inventories of NFDM will be made available
for inclusion in ICSM, CSM, and WSM in order to assure that these products
sustain a reasonable shelf life similar to CSB/WSB under proper storage/handling
conditions. Following USDA'S NFDM Notice of Availability, BHR/FFP appointed
a Special Task Force to explore the feasibility and viability of infusing
NFDM programming for on-going or proposed TITLE II Programs. BHR/FFP would
like to emphasize that ICSM, CSM, and WSM are not intended to replace WSB
and CSB. Cooperating partners have the option of selecting one or the other.
If ICSM, CSM, or WSM becomes unavailable in the future for any reason, cooperating
partners could request CSB or WSB. Caution should be exercised when using
ICSM with respect to the potential for mixing unboiled/unpotable water for
reconstituting ICSM. Unboiled or contaminated water should not be used for
reconstituting ICSM. Finally, these products should not be considered as
breastmilk substitutes.
IV. Special Task Force Recommendations: Rather than adopting
a firm position of either recommending approval or disapproval of NFDM in
it's natural state [vitamin-fortified/unfortified] for immediate TITLE II
Program use, the Special Task Force conveyed the following recommendations:
- Priority consideration be given to the immediate production and programming
of ICSM, CSM, and WSM with the addition of 15 percent NFDM for TITLE II Programs,
subject to availability. U.S. Industry Production Capacity for these products
are not expected to be constrained During FY 2002; however, USDA has warned
that the production of WSM MAY BE LIMITED DUE TO THE LACK OF MULTIPLE VENDOR
CAPACITY.
- Prior to program approval, BHR/FFP'S Development Programs Country Backstop
Officers and Emergency Food for Peace Officers, Missions/Posts, and Cooperating
Partners would need to ensure that Food Aid Rations factor in a contingency
for inter-changeability of ICSM/CSM/WSM for CSB/WSB in the event NFDM and
ICSM/CSM/WSM are determined to be unavailable at some point in the future.
- Programming and approval of ICSM/CSM/WSM would be on a self-targeting, Cooperating
Partners' demand driven-basis only.
V. Procurement Cycle for New Products: USDA is presently producing
CSM for Non-Title II Programs, and BHR/FFP has been engaged in procurement
planning efforts with USDA in order to identify, in advance, any production
capacity limitations for Processed Commodities as part of On-Going Inter-Agency
Procurement planning efforts for competing USG Program demands for Processed
Commodiities for Monthly Procurement Invitations. To facilitate our collective
efforts, BHR/FFP'S Strategic Objective Teams will identify interested recipient
country programs and cooperating partners. The Special Task Force considers
the re-introduction of ICSM/CSM/WSM to be both nutritionally beneficial and
cost-effective in view of the fact that estimated commodity values for these
new products are comparable to current CSB/WSB commodity prices as shown
below:
- CURRENT ILLUSTRATIVE COMMODITY PRICE ESTIMATES PER METRIC TON [IN U.S. DOLLARS] FOR CSB/WSB/ICSM/CSM/WSM, SUBJECT TO CHANGE:
CSB: 283
WSB: 388
ICSM: 387
CSM: 292
WSM: 366
- USDA Packaging for shipments of ICSM, CSM, WSM, CSB, and WSB to Africa
will consist of 25-Kilogram (KG), three-ply, multi-wall high performance,
durable paper bags with a polypropylene inner liner bag. All other shipments
to non-African destination points will be standard 25 KG bags with multi-wall
paper lining.
VI. As noted under Paragraph I, above, BHR/FFP'S next update of USAID'S
CRG will incorporate Generic Commodity Specifications for ICSM, CSM, WSM.
Also note that initial CRG modules are currently available on USAID'S external
Website at: http://www.usaid.gov/hum_response/crg
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