FOCUS
Officers in both services
Germany or the Netherlands.”
Zarit says that the agency has
gotten the message. “What we’ve
found is that even in the traditional
markets where we thought it’s easier for U.S. businesses to do business, they still need our help.” And
while the Commercial Service is
looking to expand into areas of
Africa and Central Europe, it’s also
well aware that American businesses need to export as much as possible to the lucrative
markets of the developed world.
The Foreign Agricultural Service has faced similar
transitional pains in adjusting to a reorganization launched five years ago. Washington-based officers previously
assigned to promote particular commodities are now organized to promote all U.S. farm products in specific
countries. The change has aided FAS officers overseas
but created complications in dealing with U.S. farm
groups, which are largely organized by commodity. “It’s thrown a
big curve into the functioning of
the agency and required us to reestablish how we view our core
functions,” says Schmick.
Depending on the priorities of
each new administration, the
agency is pushed and pulled to
shift emphasis among its principal
activities: reporting on agricultural
economics; promoting U.S. exports and helping American companies navigate bureaucratic hurdles; conducting policy analysis, for example on biofuel use in South
America or the effect of climate change on food production; and providing food aid and development assistance
in emerging markets. While reporting on agricultural
output was once the agency’s core function, its focus has
shifted as the private sector has begun to compile more
accurate data.
glory in a can-do, practical
culture that they say differs
from the more cerebral
one at State.
