65 



10 



b. Contributing to other Department missions, like rural development. After 



all, the ultimate goal of our efforts is to assure a better life for everyone in 

 rural America. 



c. Proactive use of the TPCC, for example where a multi-agency 

 approach will help us tackle barriers to import growth in a country, such 

 as infrastructure. 



We will be fleshing out this skeleton plan-including potential legislative and 

 program changes-- through the four parallel processes identified above over the next few 

 months. 



Agency Structures 



As we look at these ambitious plans, we must continually ask ourselves whether 

 we have the most efficient agency structure to enable us to reach our goals. Certainly 

 the merger of FAS and OICD is a big plus in broadening our concept of how to boost 

 exports and how to help American agriculture more generally. But we continue to 

 review how we operate and consider ways to do what we do even better. In our final 

 reorganization plan, FAS has proposed relocating our Planning and Evaluation Staff into 

 the Office of the Administrator to emphasize the importance of the strategic planning 

 mechanism. In addition, FAS has an ongoing review of its field staffing so we will be 

 able to concentrate our resources where opportunities exist. At some point in the not 

 too distant future, we will need to review the overall organization and structure of the 

 Agency. 



