43 



CBI has had particular success in Indonesia, India, and the Phil- 

 ippines. Recently, CBI established the American Cooperative En- 

 terprise Center, the ACE Center, in Prague to help the coopera- 

 tives of Eastern and Central Europe develop joint venture activi- 

 ties, and make a smooth transition to a free market economy. 



In the last year, NCBA has opened an office in Tver, in Russia, 

 thanks to a section 416 monetization grant of feed wheat, the sales 

 of which have provided us with working capital in Russia to pro- 

 mote market development and food distribution systems there. 

 That office is manned by CBI. 



We strongly support such monetization programs because we feel 

 they go the furthest in allowing us to create markets that will pro- 

 mote local development while creating new business opportunities 

 for American interests. 



America's cooperatives are proud of what we have been able to 

 accomplish internationally and they have dedicated considerable 

 resources, both financisd and personal, to that end. But much of 

 what we have been able to accomplish would not have been pos- 

 sible without the support of the Federal Government, and particu- 

 larly the international programs of USD A and AID. 



The Foreign Agricultural Service with its relatively new author- 

 ity over the Food for Progress program in section 416, has been 

 very helpful. We believe, however, that USDA can better assist our 

 international trade and development efforts by focusing in on de- 

 veloping markets for value-added products. We need a strong FAS 

 to help us market those products overseas. 



Thus, NCBA supports Secretary Esp^s proposal to merge the Of- 

 fice of International Cooperation and Development with FAS in the 

 new International Trade Service Agency. We are particularly' 

 pleased to see this new agency grouped with the Farm Service 

 Agency with both units reporting to the Under Secretary for Farm 

 and International Trade Services, Mr. Eugene Moos. 



Having the existing functions of the Agricultural Stabilization 

 and Conservation Service, the General Sales Manager, and the 

 Commodity Credit Corporation, and the Foreign Agricultural Serv- 

 ice all reporting to one Under Secretary, makes tremendous sense 

 to us. This new grouping of focused activities will facilitate coordi- 

 nation for overseas programs based upon American commodities. 



The overseas agricultural development expertise of OICD ought 

 to combine well with the market-oriented approach to FAS. On the 

 program side, this should beef up the capabilities of USDA to uti- 

 lize the programs already on the books more effectively. It also pre- 

 sents an opportunity to update rules and regulations, to focus on 

 the synthesizing of work in terms of how these programs are 

 packaged and delivered. 



This new merger should offer another opportunity for rethinking 

 what works and what doesn't and to put the emphasis on programs 

 that act as a catalyst and facilitator for American cooperatives and 

 farm organizations to develop markets, establish business links, 

 and become partners in economic development activity. Not be- 

 cause it is a Government program established to do good, but be- 

 cause it enables cooperatives and businesses to help one another 

 become better partners in establishing strong markets for the fu- 



