Foreign Agricultural Service’s Controls Over McGovern-Dole International Food for Education Program Funding

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Date Issued

Wednesday, July 10, 2024

Submitting OIG

Department of Agriculture OIG

Other Participating OIGs

Department of Agriculture OIG

Agencies Reviewed/Investigated

Department of Agriculture

Components

Foreign Agricultural Service

Report Number

07601-0002-41

Report Description

OIG evaluated Foreign Agricultural Service’s controls over agreement funding for the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program.

Report Type

Audit

Agency Wide

Yes

Number of Recommendations

Questioned Costs

$167,032,922

Funds for Better Use

$19,925,665

Open Recommendations

This report has 9 open recommendations.

Recommendation Number	Significant Recommendation	Recommended Questioned Costs	Recommended Funds for Better Use
2	Yes	$0	$0
Assess the administrative impact of the Appropriation Act earmarks and determine and implement all necessary response actions.
3	Yes	$0	$0
Coordinate with the Office of the Chief Financial Officer to ensure that LRP funds are properly accounted for and tracked separately from other McGovern-Dole Program funds for agreements issued in FYs 2021 and 2022. As applicable, remediate or consult with OGC on any potential Antideficiency Act violations noted and, if applicable, include any nonconformance in the agency’s Federal Managers’ Financial Integrity Act Annual Certification Statement.
4	Yes	$0	$0
Analyze whether recipients expended LRP funds exactly as budgeted since FY 2020. If they did not, determine whether the recipients exceeded their LRP budgets, and if so, take appropriate action as needed.
5	Yes	$0	$0
Revise policies and procedures to: (a) review recipients’ advance payment requests and independently identify, calculate, and document whether the requests include rollover amounts; and (b) assess rollover funds by considering and documenting the requests’ merits in accordance with the regulatory requirements.
6	Yes	$0	$0
Analyze the advance payment requests FAS received from FY 2023 to the date of implementation of advance payment review policies and procedures in Recommendation 5, to determine whether the recipients included rollover funds, and follow up as needed.
7	Yes	$0	$0
Review and update FAS’ reimbursement and advance payment tracking system to accurately track recipients’ advance payment requests, including rollover funds.
8	Yes	$0	$0
Revise current agreement closeout policies and procedures to reflect regulatory requirements.
9	Yes	$0	$0
Establish and implement a formalized plan to resolve the historical backlog and close out these agreements.
10	Yes	$0	$0
Analyze whether FAS’ existing closeout process (including the agency’s existing resources and distribution of responsibilities) is effective to meet its objectives, and implement closeout process revisions, if needed, based on the results.