Deadline: 19-Sep-2025
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service has announced a funding opportunity to support the Quality Samples Program (QSP) through new awards. This program is designed to help promote the quality of U.S. agricultural commodities by providing samples to potential foreign importers.
Eligible applicants include U.S. government or private entities. Government entities can be federal, state, or local agencies. Private entities may include nonprofit trade associations, universities, agricultural cooperatives, state regional trade groups, and for-profit organizations.
Funding for individual projects is capped at $75,000 for those involving further processing or substantial transformation of samples. Projects consisting only of technical demonstration seminars are limited to $15,000.
To qualify, projects must benefit the entire U.S. commodity sector rather than a specific brand or company. They must aim to develop new markets, promote new products or new uses, and not simply replace existing U.S. products. Commodities used must be available commercially and in sufficient supply.
Projects must ensure that the sample is either processed or substantially transformed in the destination country or used in technical seminars to demonstrate its application. These samples cannot be used in retail promotions or distributed directly to consumers. However, end products resulting from the samples can be shared with end-use consumers to illustrate their appeal to potential importers.
Samples should be limited in quantity—less than a typical commercial sale—and enough only to meet the objectives of the project. Target audiences must be foreign importers who are either unfamiliar with the U.S. commodity, have not previously purchased it, or need technical support in processing or marketing it.
QSP funds can only be used for generic activities. For-profit entities may not use these funds to support private business operations, regular sales activities, or brand promotion unless specifically approved by FAS. Applications that duplicate efforts already underway or conflict with U.S. non-profit agricultural strategies will not be eligible.
All U.S. entities, excluding FAS Posts, that play a role in exporting U.S. agricultural commodities and meet eligibility requirements may apply.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
