01/20/06 Export funding applications

It was just recently that a variety of Northwest fruit industry federal marketing orders & Pear Bureau Northwest, Northwest Cherries, and others & were awarded a secondary round of U.S.D.A. Market Access Program funding. But as Rebecca Baerveldt of the Washington Apple Commission points out, M.A.P. provides ag trade associations money to create, expand and maintain foreign markets. BAERVELDT: Every year we submit a round of plans, tell the government where we would like to spend the money and what we're planning to do which in our case, to promote Washington apples in markets. And they provide us with funding allocation. But just as trade organizations are putting their secondary round of M.A.P. funds to use, they also are aware that another M.A.P. related deadline is fast approaching. U.S.D.A. is currently accepting applications through March 13th for M.A.P. and three other export market development programs for the 2006 export season. The Emerging Markets Program helps improve market opportunities for U.S. ag products in low to middle income nations with market potential. The Quality Samples Program helps U.S. exporters provide samples of American commodities to foreign buyers who had not previously used such commodities. And the Foreign Market Development Cooperator Program helps non-profit U.S. ag trade organizations develop and maintain foreign markets through a cost-share program.