89 



need for each of its commodity reports; FAS did not 

 systematically communicate with the users of the reports in U.Si 

 agriculture to learn the true extent of their information needs. 

 U.S. agriculture has at its disposal an increasing number of 

 private sources of basic information on world agriculture. In a 

 time of budgetary constraints and increasing global competition, 

 FAS cannot continue to collect information that is nonessential, 

 rather than devote its resources to effectively carry out its 

 other export promotion responsibilities. 



NEED TO IMPROVE 

 STRATEGIC PLANNING 



Strategic planning is very important for the efficient management 

 of government resources. My final remarks will address the need 

 for FAS to improve its strategic planning, particularly through 

 its Long-term Agricultural Trade Strategy (LATS), and its 

 participation in the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee's 

 (TPCC) governmentwide export promotion plan. 



Long-Term Agricultural 

 Trade Strategy 



Reguired under the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act 

 of 1990, LATS was intended to guide the Secretary of Agriculture 

 in carrying out federal programs designed to promote the export 

 of U.S. agricultural commodities. Among other things, the act 

 called for the designation of priority growth markets and the 

 development of country marketing plans, which set forth 

 strategies for these markets. 



USDA submitted LATS to Congress in January 1993, about 15 months 

 late. FAS stresses that LATS is a guide for USDA's efforts to 

 promote agricultural trade. It is not Intended as a form of 

 managed trade that sets out export strategies for the private 



