FAS Mission Overseas: Technical Assistance Activities in Agriculture in

the Balkan Region

Hassan F. Ahmed, Ph.D.

Agricultural Attaché

U.S. Embassy - Belgrade

FAS Mission Overseas

The Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) has primary responsibility for all U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) activities overseas. FAS mission includes:

– Analyzing and reporting on trends in agricultural production, consumption and trade of agricultural and food products in host country

– Negotiating and monitoring international and bilateral trade agreements related to agriculture

– Working to eliminate trade barriers and improve market access for U.S. products

– Promoting exports of U.S. food, beverage and agricultural products

FAS Mission (continued)

The Foreign Agricultural Service administers USDA's export credit guarantee and food aid programs.

Coordinates technical assistance and capacity building programs to stimulate agricultural development, increase food availability and improve economic growth in target countries.

Goals of FAS Mission in Serbia

Strengthen Serbia’s agricultural institutions and promote economic growth and development

Eliminate trade barriers and improve market access for U.S. products

Assist Serbia’s accession to WTO and multilateral trade agreements

Identify market opportunities and promote U.S. exports in the Serbian market

Eliminate Trade Barriers and Improve Market Access for U.S. Exports

Work with Serbian regulatory and enforcement agencies to minimize tariffs and technical barriers facing U.S. exports

– Work with Serbian government to lower tariffs, levies and import fees on food products

– Improve and adopt new food safety law that is consistent with international standards

– Help streamline Vet and Plant Inspection and testing procedures via TA programs

– Establish equivalency for Serbia’s Vet Service with APHIS and promote Generalized System of Preference benefits

– Help establish Serbian Agro biotech policy based on sound scientific criteria

Identify Market Opportunities and Promote U.S. Exports in the Serbian Market

FAS provides trade servicing and assists FAS’ cooperators strengthen relations between Serbian importers and U.S. suppliers

– Conduct trade servicing and promotion activities – Increase reporting on market situation and prospects for

U.S. high value products– Improve buyers’ lists and create linkages between U.S.

exporters and Serbian importers– Encourage trade missions and participation of Serbian

buyers in U.S. trade shows

Assist Serbia’s Accession to WTO and Joining Multilateral Trade Agreements

Work actively to assist Serbia’s efforts to join the WTO, international trading bodies and agreements:

– Provide consultation & training to Serbian SPS team at the WTO accession negotiations in Geneva

– Train Serbian officials on WTO structure and issues and inform them of U.S. position

– Help Serbia adhere to its commitments to regional and bilateral trade agreements such as CEFTA and GSP

Strengthen Serbia’s Agricultural Institutions and Promote Economic Development

Areas of cooperation:– Strengthen Veterinary Services’ ability to diagnose, treat

and prevent animal diseases– Establish sound regulatory system for Phyto-sanitary

inspection and plant protection – Strengthen Serbia’s agricultural economic research,

reporting and policy analysis – Develop systems for agricultural extension, farm

management and market information – Establish HACCP system for food safety and grading and

standards for fruits and vegetables

Technical Assistance Programs Coordinated by FAS Office in Serbia

Market Information System (MIS) Economic and Policy Analysis Unit Animal Health Agricultural Extension Service Plant Health and Seeds Food Safety Grades and Standards Accession to World Trade Organization (WTO) Biotechnology and Bio-Safety Norman Borlaug S&T Fellowship Program Cochran Fellowship Program Faculty Exchange Program

Animal Health

Animal health experts from Iowa State University have been providing (since 2003) assistance to strengthen Serbia’s ability in the area of veterinary medicine related to diagnostics reporting, treating and prevention of animal diseases

Strengthening Serbia’s capabilities to assess the risks in livestock and animal product trade

Developing efficient systems to promptly respond to and report on animal disease outbreaks and food safety crisis

Food Safety

Assistance to Serbian Ministry of Agriculture to build and strengthen regulatory systems in food production and processing facilities

Help establish an integrated food safety system and collaboration between Ministry of Health and Ministry of Agriculture

Help Serbia meet international criteria and standards in food safety and quality

Biotechnology and Bio-Safety

Provide assistance to the Serbian biotech institutions and regulatory bodies to build capacities, specifically in the area of policy making, implementation of transparent and sound legislations on Biotechnology

Help promote, transfer and expand utilization of modern agricultural biotechnology in Serbian research institutions

Serbian Accession to the WTO

U.S. experts on WTO negotiation provide training to Serbia’s Ministries of Agriculture, Health and Economy to help prepare accession working files related to the agricultural and food sectors

Provide direct consultations and training to the Serbian technical teams working on the sanitary and Phyto-sanitary (SPS) issues of the accession negotiation.

Market Information System (MIS)

Accomplishments 2003-2007:– Developed a sustainable system for the collection,

analysis and dissemination of quality information to various end-users

– Trained 40 agricultural reporters from 18 Ag stations in Serbia in collecting, analyzing and reporting price information for fruits, vegetables, livestock and grain

– Created a fully functioning website at Ag Ministry with weekly price updates. Additional dissemination via Radio and Press

– Current consultation with Ag Ministry to expand product coverage and the scope of price & information utilization by end-user groups

Market Information System

Ag Economic & Policy Analysis Unit

Trained staff analysts at the Serbian Ministry of Agriculture on USDA methods of PS&D assessment for commodity analysis and support Ministry policy formulation

Help establish analytical units and train Ministry staff to deal with issues related WTO accession, EU integration, and assess the impact of various policy options on the Serbia agricultural and food sector

Ag Economic & Policy Analysis Unit

Agricultural Extension Service

Multi-Aspect program that include the following activities:

Farm Management: 2004- present

Rural Development: 2006 - present

Conservation Tillage System: 2007- present

Farm Management

Train-the-trainers approach to work with Extension Specialists of Agricultural Ministry on methods to help farmers improve business practices and adopt sound investment, production, and marketing decisions.

Since 2004 a series of Farm Management workshops have been conducted by experts from Penn State University and University of Kentucky

Several field workshops and hands-on training have been conducted in cooperation with the Ag Ministry in the areas of book-keeping, cost-benefit analysis, purchasing machinery and assets

Farm Management

Rural Development

Experts from University of Kentucky completed training of 40 participants in advanced Rural Development techniques

Work with participants from the Serbian Extension Service, local governments and NGOs: Train-the-Trainers approach

Area of work covered various development skills and targeted agricultural and rural activities in several disadvantaged communities in Serbia

Many of the Serbian trainees are currently applying the newly learned USDA/U Kentucky techniques in their respective rural development projects in their communities

Rural Development

Conservation Tillage Systems

To increase efficiency of crop production by using conservation tillage techniques that help save energy and labor, increase profits and yields, maintain soil moisture, and minimize soil erosion.

USDA donated Strip Tillage demo machine to Serbian Ag Ministry

Experts from Penn State University and Serbian Extension Service used the machine to conduct series of field trials to compare conventional and conservation tillage systems

USDA organized Field Days for more than 150 participants to demonstrate the benefits of conservation tillage systems

Number of farmers adopting conservation tillage systems in Serbia have been steadily increasing

Conservation Tillage Programin Serbia

Plant Health and Seeds

USDA works with Serbian Ag Ministry on issues related to:

– Identification and Eradication of Corn Redness Disease– Introduction of bio-integrated pest management in

vegetables production– Setting up a Pesticide Management system at the Ag

Ministry’s Inspection Directorate – Pest Risk Assessment for plant imports/exports; Phyto-

sanitary database; Standard Operating Procedures for Phyto-sanitary Labs; Diagnostics

– Help establish Plant Pest Forecasting System

The Norman E. Borlaug International Agricultural Science &Technology Fellows Program (NBF)

The Norman Borlaug Fellowship Program promotes international cooperation in agricultural science

Fosters increased collaboration and networking between host countries and the U.S. and help transfer new agricultural science and technology

Fellows work with U.S. mentors at Land Grant Universities in one-on-one basis for 6-7 weeks to achieve the goals of their training programs

In the last 5 years, Serbia had 54 participating fellows of agricultural research scientists, faculty and policymakers from various agricultural fields and institutions

U.S. training is often complemented by follow-up activities by the U.S. mentors with the Serbia universities and institutions

Norman E. Borlaug and fellows - 2007

The Faculty Exchange Program (FEP)

• The FEP provides training of young professors from various Serbian universities in the U.S. for six months to increase their technical knowledge, and enhance their ability to teach agriculture science, Ag economics, marketing and agribusiness courses

• The main goal of FEP is to reform curricula and promote the development of sound agricultural policy, effective and competitive agricultural production, marketing and business programs

Cochran Fellowship Program (CFP)

An exchange/training program that focuses on technical aspects related to agricultural trade, management, marketing and agribusiness development

Training opportunities have been provided to hundreds of participants from the Balkan countries for the past 6 years

Training activities in the U.S. (2-4 weeks) are very diverse, include almost all sectors in agriculture and agribusiness and are tailored to suit the needs of the participants and fit the situation in their countries

U.S. and host country business communities have been very supportive of the Cochran program and have been actively engaged in the planning training schedules

Thank you!