Explain the allocation process?
The allocation criteria and the required documentation are contained in 7 CFR 1485.13 and 1485.14. Allocations are made only to applicants that can effectively carry out the purposes of the program. The applications are processed in three distinct phases. First, they are subjected to a sufficiency review for regulatory requirements. Then, they are reviewed for management and administrative capability, effective use of evaluations, attache comments, targeted markets, general administrative costs, proposed budgets for small-sized entities, availability and coordination of funding through other USDA export programs, and export effectiveness by commodity marketing specialists from the respective commodity divisions within the Foreign Agricultural Service. And finally, using the funding recommendations from the previous step, they are subjected to a competitive review that compares the relative performance of each applicant based on four weighted criteria: contributions (40%), export perfor
