The Market Access Program (MAP), formerly known as the Targeted Export Assistance (TEA) Program when it was created in the 1985 Farm Bill, uses funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) to aid in the creation, expansion, and maintenance of foreign markets for U.S. agricultural products.  MAP, which is administered by USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), forms a partnership between non-profit U.S. agricultural trade associations, farmer cooperatives, non-profit state-regional trade groups, small businesses, and USDA to share the costs of overseas marketing and promotional activities such as consumer promotions, market research, trade shows, and trade servicing.  The Coalition to Promote U.S. Agricultural Exports strongly urges the Administration and Congress to maintain funding for MAP at the existing level of $200 million annually, as authorized by the 2008 Farm Bill. 

MAP HELPS BOOST U.S. AGRICULTURAL EXPORTS

• Exports are projected to be $95.5 billion in FY 09, down $20 billion from last year's record level but still up over $33 billion since 2004. Since the program was created in 1985, U.S. agricultural exports have increased by roughly 224 percent (Source USDA).
• Agriculture's trade surplus is projected to be about $13 billion in FY 09, down from $23 billion last year (Source USDA). However, agriculture is one of the few sectors of the American economy to enjoy a trade surplus, and without it the overall U.S. trade deficit would be even worse.
• A study of MAP and the Foreign Market Development (FMD) Program done by Global Insight showed that these programs successfully increased U.S. agricultural exports. In fact, the study showed that the additional program funding provided in the 2002 Farm Bill increased the U.S. share of world trade by over 1 market share point to 19%, boosting U.S. agricultural exports by $3.8 billion (Source: A Cost Benefit Analysis of USDA's International Market Development Programs, Global Insight Inc., November 2006).
• The outlook for the global economy continues to weaken, eroding demand for all agricultural products. This reinforces the need for valuable programs, such as MAP, that help create, expand, and maintain foreign markets for U.S. agricultural products.

MAP PROTECTS AMERICAN JOBS AND INCREASES FARM INCOME

• Serves as a "BUY AMERICAN" program by promoting only American-grown and produced commodities.
• Every billion dollars in U.S. agricultural exports supports nearly 12,000 American jobs. (Source USDA).
• Given U.S. agricultural exports are expected to be $95.5 billion in FY 09, over 1.2 million Americans will have jobs that depend on these exports, thanks in part to MAP and related programs that have helped boost U.S. agricultural exports. (Source USDA)
• A study of MAP and FMD commissioned by FAS showed that, over the course of the 2002 Farm Bill, annual farm cash receipts increased by $2.2 billion due to the increase in U.S. agricultural exports that resulted from increased market development activities. Higher cash receipts helped increase annual farm net cash income by $460 million, representing a $4 increase in farm income for every additional $1 increase in government spending on market development (Source: A Cost Benefit Analysis of USDA's International Market Development Programs, Global Insight Inc., November 2006).

MAP HELPS COUNTER SUBSIDIZED FOREIGN COMPETITION

• In recent years, the EU, the Cairns Group, and other foreign competitors have devoted considerable resources on various market development activities to promote their exports of agricultural, forestry, and fishery products (Source USDA). A significant portion of this is carried out in the U.S.
• Eliminating or reducing funding for MAP in the face of continued subsidized foreign competition and during ongoing Doha Round World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations would put American farmers and workers at a substantial competitive disadvantage.
• Market development, including programs such as MAP, are not expected to be subject to WTO disciplines under Doha. Reducing our investments in market promotion while our competitors continue to increase theirs will put our producers at a decided disadvantage in competing for international sales.

MAP ILLUSTRATES SUCCESSFUL PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP

• MAP is administered on a reimbursable cost-share basis, specifically targeting small businesses, farmer cooperatives, and non-profit trade organizations. While government is an important partner in this effort, industry funds are now estimated to represent almost 60% of total annual spending on market development and promotion, up from roughly 45% in 1996 and less than 30% in 1991, which demonstrates industry commitment to the effort (Source USDA).