International Trade: Review of Effectiveness of FAS (Foreign Agricultural Service) Cooperator Market Development Program

摘要

The effectiveness of the cooperator programs implemented by the Foreign Agricultural Service of the Department of Agriculture is reviewed. The nature of marketing activities inherent in the cooperator programs is such that accurate measurement of the impact of these programs on the U.S. agricultural export levels is difficult if not impossible to determine. GAO recommended that the Secretary of Agriculture direct the Administrator of FAS to take the following actions; Clarify cooperator program goals and establish standards or limits on total funding levels per program and time frames for individual program funding; Continue efforts to measure program results including the measurement of short term performance against program objectives; Revise FAS guidelines to define all program contributions in terms of source, rather than in terms of cash, goods and services, and foreign third party contributions.