U.S. Dept. of Agric., Farm Service Agency, Acquisition Mgmt Br., Rm 0664S, AG Code 0568, 14th & Indep. Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20250

A -- NOTICE OF FY 1998 EMERGING MARKETS PROGRAM AND SOLICITATION OF PRIVATE SECTOR PROPOSALS DUE 042098 POC Emerging Markets Office (202) 720-0368 WEB: Click here to view the Emerging Markets Program homepage for more information., http://www.fas.usda.gov/excredits/em-markets/em-markets.html. SUMMARY: The Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) invites proposals for using technical assistance to promote the export of, and improve the market access for, U.S. agricultural products to emerging markets in fiscal year (FY) 1998 under the Emerging Markets Program (the Program). The Program is authorized by the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990, as amended (the Act). Proposals will be considered under this announcement from any private agricultural or agribusiness organization, with certain restrictions as indicated below. Program funds available for FY 1998 under this notice are approximately $5 million. All agricultural products except tobacco are eligible for consideration. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: It is strongly recommended that any organization considering applying to the Program for FY 1998 funding assistance obtain a copy of the 1998 Program Guidelines. The Guidelines contain additional information, including details of project budgets and certain funding limitations that must be taken into account in the preparation of proposals. Requests for Program Guidelines and additional information may be obtained from and applications submitted to: Emerging Markets Office, Foreign Agricultural Service, Room 6506 South Building, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 20250-1032, Fax: (202) 690-4369. The Guidelines are also available on the FAS Home Page on the Internet: http: www.fas.usda.gov/excredits/em-markets/em-markets.html. PROGRAM DEFINITIONS: The purpose of Program is to assist U.S. organizations, public and private, to improve market access, development and promotion of U.S. agricultural products in low to middle income countries that offer promise of emerging market opportunities in the near- to medium-term. This is to be accomplished by providing U.S. technical assistance through projects and activities in those emerging markets. The Act defines an emerging market as any country that the Secretary of Agriculture determines: (1) Is taking steps toward a market-oriented economy through the food, agriculture, or rural business sectors of the economy of the country; and (2) Has the potential to provide a significant market for United States agricultural commodities or products of United States agricultural commodities. Because funds are limited and the range of potential emerging market countries is world wide, priority is given to proposals which focus on those countries with (1) per capita income less than $8355 (the food aid per capital income cut-off figure of OECD's Development Assistance Committee); and (2) population greater than 1 million. PRIORITIES AND DETERMINING FACTORS: The underlying premise of the Emerging Markets Program is that there are distinctive characteristics of emerging agricultural markets that necessitate or benefit significantly from U.S. governmental assistance before the private sector moves to develop these markets through normal corporate or trade promotional activities. The emphasis is on market access opportunities, with funding provided for successful activities on a project-by-project basis. The Program complements the efforts of other FAS marketing programs. Once a market access issue has been addressed by this Program, further market development activities may be considered under other programs such as GSM-102 or GSM-103 credit guarantee programs, the Market Access Program (MAP), or the Foreign Market Development Program (FMD). Ineligible activities include in-store promotions, restaurant promotions, advertising, and branded promotions. For countries deemed "emerging markets," the following criteria will be used to determine the suitability of projects for funding by the Emerging Markets Program: 1. Low U.S. market share and significant market potential. * Is there a significant lag in U.S. market share of a specific commodity in a given country or countries? * Is there an identifiable obstacle or competitive disadvantage facing U.S. exporters (e.g., competitor financing, subsidy, competitor market development activity) or systemic obstacle to imports of U.S. products (e.g., inadequate distribution, infrastructure impediments, insufficient information, lack of financing options or resources)? * What is the potential of a project to generate a significant increase in U.S. agricultural exports in the near- to medium-term? (Estimates or projections of trade benefits to commodity exports, and the basis for evaluating such, must be included in proposals submitted to the Program.) 2. Recent change in a market. * Is there, for example, a change in a sanitary or phytosanitary trade barrier; a change in an import regime or the lifting of a trade embargo; a shift in the political or financial situation in a country? In order to qualify for Emerging Markets Program funding, proposals must also include cost-sharing: the willingness of private agribusiness to commit its own funds along with those of the Program to seek export business in an emerging market. No proposal will be considered without the element of cost-sharing. The Emerging Markets Program is intended to complement, not supplant, the efforts of the U.S. private sector. The percentage of private funding proposed for a project will therefore be a critical factor in determining which proposals are funded under the Program. While no minimum or maximum is specified, the absolute amount of private sector funding proposed may also affect the decision to fund a proposal. The type of cost-sharing provided by private industry is also not specified; it may be professional time of staff assigned to the project or actual cash invested in the proposed project. However, proposals in which private industry is willing to commit actual funds, rather than contributing such in-kind items as staff resources, will be given priority consideration. Additional criteria to be considered in approving projects are outlined under "Applications" below. FUNDING OF PROPOSALS: Funding for technical assistance projects is made on the basis of proposals to the Emerging Markets Office. In general, each proposal submitted in response to this announcement will compete against all such proposals received under the same announcement. Proposals will be judged not only on their ability to provide benefits to the organization receiving Emerging Markets Program funds, but which also represent the broader interests of the industry which that organization represents. The limited funds of the Emerging Markets Program and the range of emerging markets world wide in which the funds may be used preclude EMO from approving large budgets for single projects. The Program is intended to provide appropriate USDA assistance to projects which also have a significant amount of financial contributions from other sources, especially U.S. private industry. There is no minimum or maximum amount set for EMO-funded projects; however, most are funded at the level of less than $500,000 and for a duration of one year or less. Funding is normally made available on a cost-reimbursable basis. Multi-year Proposals. These maybe considered in the context of a strategic plan and detailed plan of implementation. Funding in such cases is normally provided one year at a time, with commitments beyond the first year subject to interim evaluations. Projects Already in Progress. Funding may be considered for technical assistance projects that have already begun with the support and financial assistance of a private entity, and for which government funding for continuation of the project is requested. Such proposals must meet the criteria of the Emerging Markets Program, including cost-sharing for the portion of the project for which government funding is requested. (EXCEPTION. In addition to the approximately $5 million made available through this announcement for competitive proposals, some project activities may qualify for funding under one of two separate funds administered by the Emerging Markets Office: the Technical Issues Resolution Fund, and the Quick Response Market Fund. Because of the time-sensitive nature of these funds, proposals funded from these sources may be approved and funded at any time, provided the basic requirements of the Emerging Markets Program and the specific prerequisites of the funds are met in each case. For details concerning these funds, see the Program Guidelines.) PROJECT REPORTS: Results of all projects supported financially by the Program must be reported in a performance report to the Emerging Markets Office. Because public funds are used to support the project, these reports will be made available to the public by the Emerging Markets Office. ELIGIBLE ORGANIZATIONS, ACTIVITIES: Any United States agricultural and/or agribusiness organization, university, or state department of agriculture, is eligible to participate in the Program, with certain limitations. Priority will be given to those proposals that include significant support and involvement by private industry. Proposals from research and consulting organizations will be considered if they provide evidence of substantial participation by U.S. industry. Under the Program, U.S. organizations may seek funding to address market-specific issues and undertake activities not suitable for funding under FAS market promotion programs, e.g., the Foreign Market Development (FMD) Program and the Market Access Program (MAP), including the following: -- Responding to new or changed market opportunities requiring a rapid response (through the Quick Response Marketing Fund); -- Addressing food safety and regulation issues (through the Technical Issues Resolution Fund); -- Conducting sectorial assessments for trade and investment, orientation visits, feasibility studies, or market research for markets not already serviced by other FAS marketing programs, or for products for niche markets even though serviced by other FAS marketing programs; -- Undertaking cross-commodity activities focusing on problems, e.g., distribution, which affect more than one industry. APPLICATIONS: To assist FAS in making determinations under the Program, FAS recommends that all applications contain complete information about the proposed project and that the applications not be longer than ten (10) pages. The recommended information includes: name of person/organization submitting proposal; date of proposal; organization affiliation and address; telephone and fax numbers; full title of proposal; precis of the proposal, including objectives, proposed activities, benefits to U.S. agricultural exports, target country/countries for proposed activities, projected starting date for project, and funding amount requested; summary and detailed description of proposed project; statement of problem (specific trade constraint) to be addressed through the proposed project; benefits to U.S. agricultural exports; agricultural trade data for target country/countries, including existing percentage of U.S. export market share; information on whether similar activities are or have previously been funded in target country/countries (e.g., under MAP and/or FMD programs); a clearlystated explanation as to why participating organization(s) are unlikely to carry out activities without Federal financial assistance; time line(s) for project implementation; detailed project budget, including other sources of funding for the project and contributions from participating organizations (additional requirements are contained in the Program Guidelines); Federal tax ID number of the responsible organization. Qualifications of applicant(s) should be included, as an attachment. (0075)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0009 19980318\A-0009.SOL)