Controls Over the Market Access Program

Establish oversight controls to ensure that FAS periodically evaluates its application review, selection, and funding process, in accordance with regulations to ensure its evaluation criteria and processes reflect the actions FAS performs comply with regulations and the competitive standards required to award MAP funding.

Develop criteria to use during the divisional review to make funding determinations and recommend preliminary funding levels.

Ensure that all of FAS’ criteria and processes, including any that are developed, are fully described in the NOFO.

Revise the description of the competitive grant program in the NOFO to include how all applicants, including new ones and those who promoted multiple commodities, will be evaluated against the application and allocation criteria described in the NOFO. If alternative steps are taken to assess a group of applicants (e.g., new applicants and those who promote multiple commodities), FAS should describe those steps in the NOFO and in its policy and guidance.

Revise existing guidance to ensure that reviewer decisions and supervisory reviews during the application review and selection process are properly documented.