(a) General application requirements. CCC will periodically issue a Notice of Funds Availability through the Grants.gov website that it is accepting applications for participation in the ATP. Applications shall be submitted in accordance with the terms and requirements specified in the Notice and in these regulations. Applicants are encouraged to submit a UES through the UES internet website, but are not required to do so. Applicants may apply to conduct a generic promotion program and/or a brand promotion program that provides ATP funds to brand participants for branded promotion, as well as to conduct other market promotion activities including activities to address existing or potential non-tariff trade barriers. An applicant that is a U.S. agricultural cooperative may also apply for funds to conduct its own brand promotion program.
(1) Applicant and program information. All applications shall contain:
(i) The name, address, and internet location of the home page of the applicant organization;
(ii) The name of the applicant's Chief Executive Officer;
(iii) The name, telephone number, fax number, and email address of the applicant's primary contact person;
(iv) The name(s) of the person(s) responsible for managing the proposed program;
(v) A description of the applicant organization, including the type of organization of the applicant (e.g., nonprofit SRTG), its mission, and the statutory authorities by which it is constituted and under which it operates, if applicable;
(vi) Tax exempt identification number of the applicant, if applicable;
(vii) Beginning and ending dates for proposed program period (mm/dd/yy-mm/dd/yy);
(viii) Dollar amount of CCC resources requested for generic activities;
(ix) Dollar amount of CCC resources requested for brand activities;
(x) Dollar amount of CCC resources requested for other market promotion activities, including activities to address existing or potential non-tariff trade barriers;
(xi) Total dollar amount of CCC resources requested;
(xii) Percentage of CCC resources requested for general administrative expenses;
(xiii) A Dun and Bradstreet DUNS number for the applicant;
(xiv) A description of the applicant organization's membership and membership criteria;
(xv) A list of organizations affiliated with the applicant, including parent organizations, subsidiaries, and partnerships;
(xvi) A description of the applicant's management and administrative capability;
(xvii) A description of the applicant's prior export promotion experience;
(xviii) Value, in U.S. dollars, of proposed contributions from the applicant or the applicant's proposed contribution stated as a percentage of the total dollar amount of CCC resources requested; and
(xix) Value, in U.S. dollars, of proposed contributions from other sources.
(2) Program justification. All applications shall contain:
(i) A description of the promoted U.S. agricultural commodity(s), its harmonized tariff classification, the applicable commodity aggregate code (available from the UES website) and the percentage of U.S. origin content by weight, exclusive of added water;
(ii) A description of the anticipated supply and demand situation for the promoted U.S. agricultural commodity(s) as well as a demonstration of loss suffered as a result of imposed tariffs (reduced sales, lost revenue, and decreased market share, etc.);
(iii) The volume and value of exports of the promoted U.S. agricultural commodity(s) to the targeted markets for the most recent 3-year period;
(iv) If the proposal is for 2 or more years, an explanation why the proposal should be funded on a multi-year basis; and
(v) A certification and, if requested by CCC, a written explanation supporting the certification that any funds received will supplement, but not supplant, any private or third-party funds or other contributions to program activities. An explanation, if one is requested, shall indicate why the applicant is unlikely to carry out the activities without Federal financial assistance. In determining whether Federal funds would supplement or supplant private or third-party funds or contributions, CCC will consider the applicant's prior overall marketing budget in CCC market development programs from year-to-year, variations in promotional strategies within a country, and new markets.
(3) Proposed program's strategic plan.
(i) All applications shall include a strategic plan that contains:
(A) A description of overall long term strategic goals to be advanced by the proposed activities for the ensuing 3-5 years;
(B) An explanation of the organization's strategic planning process and identification of priority target markets, including a summary of proposed budgets by country and commodity aggregate code;
(C) A description of the world market situation for the exported U.S. agricultural commodity(s);
(D) A description of competition from other exporters;
(E) An evaluation plan describing the applicant's goals and the applicant's plans for monitoring and evaluating performance towards achieving these goals. This evaluation plan should set forth specific goals and benchmarks set at regular intervals to be used to identify results against identified constraints and opportunities and to measure progress made in the target market. Evaluation of a proposed ATP program's effectiveness will depend on a clear statement by the applicant of goals, method of achievement, and expected results of programming at regular intervals. The overall goal of the ATP and of individual Participants' programming is to restore or increase sales that would not have occurred in the absence of ATP funding. An ATP Participant may modify and resubmit this plan for re-approval at any time during the program period.
(F) For each target country, five years or as many years as are available of:
(1) Historical U.S. export data;
(2) U.S. market share; and
(3) CCC market development program funds received by the applicant;
(G) For each target country, three years of projected U.S. export data and U.S. market share;
(H) Country strategy, including market constraint(s) impeding U.S. exports (e.g., trade barriers) or opportunities present and the strategy proposed to overcome constraints or take advantage of the opportunities, previous activities in the country, and the projected impact of the proposed program on U.S. exports;
(I) A description of any demonstration projects, if applicable;
(J) Data summarizing the applicant's historical and projected exports, market share, and CCC market development program budgets of the promoted U.S. agricultural commodity(s);
(K) A written presentation of all proposed activities including:
(1) A short description of the relevant market constraint or opportunity;
(2) A budget for each proposed activity, identifying the source of funds.
(ii) Applications for brand promotion assistance shall also include in their strategic plans:
(A) A description of how the brand promotion program will be publicized to U.S. industry; and
(B) The criteria that will be used to allocate funds to U.S. for-profit entities and U.S. agricultural cooperatives.
(b) Requests for addition evaluation information. CCC may request any additional information that it deems necessary to evaluate an application, including, but not limited to, performance measurement information.
(c) Special rules governing demonstration projects funded with CCC resources. CCC will consider proposals for demonstration projects, provided:
(1) No more than one such demonstration project per constraint is undertaken within a market;
(2) The constraint to be addressed in the target market is a lack of technical knowledge or expertise;
(3) The demonstration project is a practical and cost effective method of overcoming the constraint; and
(4) A third-party must participate in such project through a written agreement with the ATP Participant.
(d) Universal Identifier and Central Contractor Registration (CCR). In accordance with 2 CFR part 25, each entity that applies to the ATP program and does not qualify for an exemption under 2 CFR 25.110 must:
(1) Be registered in the CCR prior to submitting an application or plan;
(2) Maintain an active CCR registration with current information at all times during which it has an active Federal award or an application or plan under consideration by CCC; and
(3) Provide its DUNS number in each application or plan it submits to CCC.
(e) Reporting Subaward and Executive Compensation Information. In accordance with 2 CFR part 170, each entity that applies to the ATP program and does not qualify for an exception under 2 CFR 170.110(b) must ensure it has the necessary processes and systems in place to comply with the applicable reporting requirements of 2 CFR part 170 should it receive ATP funding.