Monitoring and Evaluation

1. MONITORING AND REPORTING: A Participant shall provide interim and final reports for all program activities as specified below. A separate interim report should be submitted upon the completion of the current activity or after each program year, whichever comes first; and a final report submitted no later than 90 days after the completion of the activity. The twelve month interim report is also called an “Annual Report.” If you conducted more than one activity per agreement (regardless if it is for one year or multiple years), separate interim reports are required for each activity. The Participant shall submit an e-mail with the attached Interim Report and/or Final Report to the Grant Programs Branch (podadmin@fas.usda.gov). In addition to e-mail submissions, all Final Reports shall be submitted to the UES.

1. Interim reports should be two pages or less and adhere to the following format:

1. Contact Person for the Activity: Name, email, telephone number. Who do we call if we have questions about something you have reported?

2. Agreement Number: Provide the Agreement Number on the report.

3. Activity Year: Which Year/Phase of the Activity is this Interim Report for? Year 1 2 3 4 5?

4. Activity Progress: Very briefly, what did you accomplish since either the start of the activity or your last report? Were there any changes to your project approach?

5. Trade Barrier/Constraint: Were there any updates to the technical issue impeding trade, and which country/countries are affected? If so, what are they?

6. Partner Organizations and their role in the activity: Research group, university, contractor, USDA Agency, Other U.S. Agency, State Departments of Agriculture, etc.

7. Market Assessment Update: Were there important changes in the market since the submission of the TASC proposal that had an impact on constraints and project goals?

8. Estimate of Funds Spent:  Provide a line-item budget that accounts for all expenditures to date (by year and by cost category) that fully represents the budget that was originally proposed for the project(s) that were included in the proposal. Were there any changes to the initial budget?

2. Final reports should be ten pages or less and adhere to the following format:

1. Contact Person for the Activity: Name, email, telephone number. Who do we call if we have questions about something you have reported?

2. Agreement Number: Provide the Agreement Number on the report.

3. Project Activity: Very briefly, what did you set out to do and how did you do it?

4. Trade Barrier/Constraint: Provide a brief description of the technical issue impeding trade, and which country/countries are affected.

5. Partner Organizations and their role in the activity: Research group, university, contractor, USDA Agency, Other U.S. Agency, State Departments of Agriculture, etc.

6. Market Assessment Update: Highlight important changes in the market since the TASC proposal submission that had an impact on constraints and project goals. The following list will help you address the issues. However, you might not have any updates for this area. (A couple sentences or short paragraph is sufficient.):

• Changes/obstacles in government policy

• Removal/addition of trade barriers

• Consumption/local production

• Other external issues that could affect sales

• Overall position of the U.S. product in the market

7. Activity Outcome and Recommendations: Give a summary of each activity implementation and outcome. In general where have you been and where are you going?

• Research conducted and results (summary)

• Impact that TASC activities had in reducing the barrier that was impeding trade

• For Pre-clearance projects, please provide a tracking summary (spreadsheet preferred) showing the number of loads reviewed under the program, and the outcome of those reviews

• Changes in trade flow

• Performance measures achieved? Why or why not?

8. Funds Spent:  An accounting for all expenditures by every cost category that fully represents the budget you originally proposed for this project. For funds not spent, give explanation of why they were not spent.

9. Success Story: In one paragraph please describe why your project was successful (if applicable), and how federal funding solved a problem the industry could not have overcome on its own.

3. The CCC may make all final reports received from the Participant available to the public.

4. All reports, assessments, and evaluations will be handled by the CCC in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act.

5. The CCC shall have a royalty-free, non-exclusive and irrevocable right to reproduce, publish, distribute, or otherwise use the work resulting from any activity conducted under this agreement, including research results or data and the presentation or compilation thereof.

6. The Participant shall be required to maintain all original records and documents relating to program activities and the expenditure of resources provided under this Agreement for five calendar years following the final reimbursement.