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ExpectMore.govExpectMore.gov home pageEXPECT FEDERAL PROGRAMS TO PERFORM WELL, AND BETTER EVERY YEAR.
Program Assessment

Program

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Agricultural Commodity Grading and Certification Programs

The Agricultural Marketing Service's (AMS) grading and certification program assists in the marketing of agricultural commodities by providing agricultural goods with grade and quality standards. The expense necessary to carry out the grading service are mostly offset through user fees.

Rating

What This Rating Means

PERFORMING
Adequate

This rating describes a program that needs to set more ambitious goals, achieve better results, improve accountability or strengthen its management practices.
  • AMS grading services provide buyers and sellers of agricultural commodities with a common set of standards that communicate quality, quantity, and value. Most of the agency's grading services are voluntary and provide market participants with a method of verifying the quality of agricultural products based on either inspection of commodities or verification of production processes.
  • Most of the cost of the program is recovered through user fees; however, the cost associated with the development, review and modification of grading standards (upon which the inspection service is based) is funded by taxpayers.
  • Continued demand for voluntary fee-based grading, certification, and audit services supports the notion that accurate assessments of quality are beneficial in marketing agricultural products.

Improvement Plan

About Improvement Plans

We are taking the following actions to improve the performance of the program:

  • Recovering the cost associated with developing grading standards for which AMS also provides a grading service.
  • Working with OMB to strengthen performance measures, including ambitious targets that demonstrate progress towards achieving these performance goals.
  • Developing improved baselines and targets that demonstrate progress towards achieving the programs stated performance goals.

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