Mozambique: Insufficient Effort Made to Attract U.S. Suppliers Under AID Commodity Program
NSIAD-94-73
Published: Feb 28, 1994. Publicly Released: Mar 16, 1994.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Agency for International Development's (AID) procurement procedures under the Commodity Import Program (CIP), focusing on: (1) why CIP primarily benefits U.S. competitors; (2) whether changes in law or regulation are needed to prevent this procurement imbalance; and (3) whether AID financing of commodity purchases from South Africa violated sanctions against that country.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. Agency for International Development | To ensure that U.S. suppliers are notified as soon as possible of any planned commodity procurements under private-sector CIP or other AID-financed programs, the Administrator, AID, should compile and circulate importer lists to interested U.S. suppliers and determine whether new or additional methods are needed to appropriately publicize purchases. |
Closed – Implemented
The Administrator, AID, accepted the report's recommendations and AID has taken steps to better publicize U.S. export opportunities and help U.S. suppliers make early contact in new and developing markets. Steps include publishing a general notice in Mary 1994 in the Procurement Information Bulletin describing the Mozambique CIP; publishing a procurement information memo in August 1994 listing the address, telephone, and fax numbers of Mozambique importers and commodities they were interested in importing; arranging for commodities they were interested in importing; and arranging for the importer list to be sent to the National Trade Data Bank to be put on the INTERNET communications system and available on CD-ROM.
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| U.S. Agency for International Development | To ensure that U.S suppliers are notified as soon as possible of any planned commodity procurements under private-sector CIP or other AID-financed programs, the Administrator, AID, should cooperate with other federal agencies to assist U.S. suppliers in making early contact with local distributors in new or developing markets where export opportunities may exist. |
Closed – Implemented
GAO considers AID notification actions and arrangements with the Departments of Commerce and State to circulate lists and commodity requirements to be responsive to the recommendation.
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Buy national policyCommodity salesCompetitionDeveloping countriesExportingFederal procurement policyForeign economic assistanceImportingInternational trade regulationProcurement practices