Agriculture's Implementation of GAO's Wheat Export Subsidy Recommendations and Related Matters

GAO reviewed actions taken by the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to implement the GAO 1973 recommendations concerning the former Wheat Export Subsidy Program and related matters. The program was suspended in 1972 because of changed market conditions and national agricultural policies, although USDA retains the authority to reinstitute the program. The GAO 1973 report recommended a systematic evaluation of the former program, a review of the legality of paying subsidies involving grain sales to the foreign affiliates of exporters, and reinstatement of subsidies with periodic evaluation if a program review determines their necessity. The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Senate Committee on Government Operations subsequently examined the Russian wheat sales and recommended that the entire mechanism should be reviewed before reinstating subsidies, to make U.S. farm products competitive in the world market and to prevent the use of subsidies for profit or speculative purposes.