[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 7, Volume 10]
[Revised as of January 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 7CFR1485]

[Page 741-744]
 
                          TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE
 
  CHAPTER XIV--COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 
PART 1485_COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF FOREIGN MARKETS FOR 
 
                     Subpart B_Market Access Program
 
Sec.  1485.23  Miscellaneous provisions.

    (a) Disclosure of program information. (1) Documents submitted to 
CCC by participants are subject to the provisions of the Freedom of 
Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552, 7 CFR part 1, Subpart A--Official 
Records, and specifically 7 C.F.R. 1.11, Handling Information from a 
Private Business.
    (2) If requested by a person located in the United States, a 
participant shall provide a copy of any document in its possession or 
control containing market information developed and produced under the 
terms of its agreement. The participant may charge a fee not to exceed 
the costs for assembling, duplicating and distributing the materials.

[[Page 742]]

    (3) The results of any research conducted by a participant under an 
agreement, shall be the property of the U.S. Government.
    (b) Ethical conduct. (1) A participant shall conduct its business in 
accordance with the laws and regulations of the country in which an 
activity is carried out.
    (2) Neither an MAP participant nor its affiliates shall make export 
sales of agricultural commodities and products covered under the terms 
of the agreement. Neither an MAP participant nor its affiliates shall 
charge a fee for facilitating an export sale. A participant may, 
however, collect check-off funds and membership fees that are required 
for membership in the participating organization. For the purposes of 
this paragraph, ``affiliate'' means any partnership, association, 
company, corporation, trust, or any other such party in which the 
participant has an investment other than in a mutual fund.
    (3) An MAP participant shall not limit participation to members of 
its organization. The MAP participant shall publicize its program and 
make participation possible for commercial entities throughout the 
participant's industry or, in the case of SRTGs, throughout the 
corresponding region.
    (4) A participant shall select U.S. agricultural industry 
representatives to participate in activities such as trade teams, sales 
teams, and trade fairs based on criteria that ensure participation on an 
equitable basis by a broad cross section of the U.S. industry. If 
requested, a participant shall submit such selection criteria to CCC for 
approval.
    (5) All participants should endeavor to ensure fair and accurate 
fact-based advertising. Deceptive or misleading promotions may result in 
cancellation or termination of an agreement.
    (6) The participant must report any actions or circumstances that 
have a bearing on the propriety of the program to the Attache/Counselor 
and its U.S. office shall report such actions in writing to the Division 
Director.
    (c) Contracting procedures. (1) Neither the Commodity Credit 
Corporation (CCC) nor any other agency of the United States Government 
or any official or employee of the CCC or the United States Government 
has any obligation or responsibility with respect to participant 
contracts with third parties.
    (2) A participant shall:
    (i) Ensure that all expenditures for goods and services reimbursed, 
in excess of $25.00, by CCC are documented by a purchase order, invoice, 
or contract and that such documentation demonstrates competition in 
acquiring the goods or services;
    (ii) Ensure that no employee or officer participates in the 
selection or award of a contract in which such employee or official, or 
the employee's or officer's family or partners has a financial interest;
    (iii) Conduct all contracting in an openly competitive manner. 
Individuals who develop or draft specifications, requirements, 
statements of work, invitations for bids and requests for proposals for 
procurement of any goods or services shall be excluded from competition 
for such procurement;
    (iv) Base solicitations for professional and technical services on a 
clear and accurate description of the requirements for the services to 
be procured;
    (v) Perform some form of price or cost analysis such as a comparison 
of price quotations to market prices or other price indicia, to 
determine the reasonableness of the offered prices.
    (d) Disposable capital goods. (1) Capital goods purchased by the MAP 
participant and reimbursed by CCC that are unusable, unserviceable, or 
no longer needed for project purposes shall be disposed of in one of the 
following ways:
    (i) The participant may exchange or sell the goods provided that it 
applies any exchange allowance, insurance proceeds or sales proceeds 
toward the purchase of other property needed in the project;
    (ii) The participant may, with CCC approval, transfer the goods to 
other MAP participants and activities, or to a foreign third party; or
    (iii) The participant may, upon Attach[eacute]/Counselor approval, 
donate the goods to a local charity, or convey the goods to the 
Attach[eacute]/Counselor, along

[[Page 743]]

with an itemized inventory list and any documents of title.
    (2) A participant shall maintain an inventory of all capital goods 
with a value of $100 acquired in furtherance of program activities. The 
inventory shall list and number each item and include the date of 
purchase or acquisition, cost of purchase, replacement value, serial 
number, make, model, and electrical requirements.
    (3) The participant shall insure all capital goods acquired in 
furtherance of program activities and safeguard such goods against 
theft, damage and unauthorized use. The participant shall promptly 
report any loss, theft, or damage of property to the insurance company.
    (e) Contracts between MAP participants and brand participants. Where 
CCC approves an application for brand promotion, the MAP participant 
shall enter into an agreement with each approved brand participant which 
shall:
    (1) Specify a time period for such brand promotion, and require that 
all brand promotion expenditures be made within the MAP participant's 
approved activity plan period;
    (2) Make no allowance for extension or renewal;
    (3) Limit reimbursable expenditures to those made in countries and 
for activities approved in the activity plan;
    (4) Specify the percentage of promotion expenditures that will be 
reimbursed, reimbursement procedures and documentation requirements;
    (5) Include a written certification that the brand participant 
either owns the brand of the product it will promote or has exclusive 
rights to promote the brand in each of the countries in which promotion 
activities will occur;
    (6) Require that all product labels, promotional material and 
advertising will identify the origin of the agricultural commodity as 
``Product of the U.S.'', ``Product of the U.S.A.'', ``Grown in the 
U.S.'', ``Grown in the U.S.A.'', ``Made in America'' or other U.S. 
regional designation if approved in advance by CCC; that such origin 
identification will be conspicuously displayed, in a manner that is 
easily observed; and that such origin identification will conform, to 
the extent possible, to the U.S. standard of 1/6 (.42 
centimeters) in height based on the lower case letter ``o''. A 
participant may request an exemption from this requirement. All such 
requests shall be in writing and include justification satisfactory to 
the Deputy Administrator that this labelling requirement would hinder a 
participant's promotional efforts. The Deputy Administrator will 
determine, on a case by case basis, whether sufficient justification 
exists to grant an exemption from the labelling requirement;
    (7) Specify documentation requirements for a U.S. brand applicant 
seeking priority consideration for assistance based on eligibility as a 
small-sized entity;
    (8) Require that the U.S. brand participant submit to the MAP 
participant a statement certifying that any Federal funds received will 
supplement, but not supplant, any private or third party funds or other 
contributions to program activities; and
    (9) The participant shall require the brand participant to maintain 
all original records and documents relating to program activities for 
five calendar years following the end of the applicable activity plan 
year and shall make such records and documents available upon request to 
authorized officials of the U.S. Government.
    (f) EIP/MAP participants shall ensure that all product labels, 
promotional material and advertising will identify the origin of the 
agricultural commodity as ``Product of the U.S.'', ``Product of the 
U.S.A.'', ``Grown in the U.S.'', ``Grown in the U.S.A.'', ``Made in 
America'' or other U.S. regional designation if approved in advance by 
CCC; such origin identification is conspicuously displayed in a manner 
that is easily observed, and that, to the fullest extent possible, the 
origin identification conforms to the U.S. standard of 1/6 
(.42 centimeters) in height based on the lower case letter ``o''. An 
EIP/ MAP participant may request an exemption from this requirement. All 
such requests shall be in writing and include justification satisfactory 
to the Deputy Administrator that this labelling requirement would hinder 
a participant's promotional efforts. The Deputy Administrator will 
determine,

[[Page 744]]

on a case by case basis, whether sufficient justification exists to 
grant an exemption from the labelling requirement;
    (g) Travel shall conform to U.S. Federal Travel Regulations (41 CFR 
parts 301 through 304) and air travel shall conform to the requirements 
of the ``Fly America Act (49 U.S.C. 1517).'' The MAP participant shall 
notify the Attach[eacute]/Counselor in the destination countries in 
writing in advance of any proposed travel.
    (h) Proceeds. Any income or refunds generated from an activity, 
i.e., participation fees, proceeds of sales, refunds of value added 
taxes (VAT), the expenditures for which have been wholly or partially 
reimbursed, shall be repaid by submitting a check payable to CCC or 
offsetting the participant's next reimbursement claim. However, where 
CCC reimburses a participant with CCC commodity certificates, such 
participant may retain any income generated by the sale of such 
certificates.

[60 FR 6363, Feb. 1, 1995, as amended at 61 FR 3548, Feb. 1, 1996; 61 FR 
32644, June 25, 1996]