USDA Announces $39 Million to Promote U.S. Food and Agricultural Products Overseas

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service announced fiscal year 2006 allocations of $39 million to 56 U.S. trade organizations to promote U.S. agricultural products overseas.
        "Developing overseas markets is critical to American agriculture," said Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns. "These programs support U.S. producer associations so they can tap into market opportunities. Agricultural exports support not only the food and agriculture sectors, but the economy as a whole."
        The allocations will be administered under three FAS programs-the Foreign Market Development (FMD) cooperator program, the Technical Assistance for Specialty Crops (TASC) program, and the Quality Samples Program (QSP).
        For more information on these programs, call the FAS Marketing Operations Staff at (202) 720-4327 or visit the FAS Web site at www.fas.usda.gov/mos/marketdev.asp.