Source: Michael Fielding, MEATINGPLACE, 2/4/14


USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has agreed to step up its oversight of beef board funds in the wake of a report by the Office of Inspector General (OIG).

In the recently released report, the OIG recommends that AMS provide additional oversight to the Beef Promotion and Research Program, although it did reaffirm that checkoff dollars were reimbursed in accordance with the Beef Act and that no mismanagement occurred.

“Overall, we concluded that AMS’ oversight as an internal control function needs improvement. In our view, this resulted in agency officials having reduced assurance that beef checkoff funds were collected, distributed, and expended in accordance with the [Beef Research and Information Act and the Beef Promotion and Research Order],” according to the report. “We found that AMS had not conducted periodic management reviews of the beef board, and the agency’s procedures for conducting these reviews could be improved.”

The report also addressed several complaints directed toward the beef board and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) that alleged the misuse of beef checkoff funds as well as the misuse of the beef checkoff logo.

In its response, AMS agreed to implement additional management review procedures for the Beef Board by June 2013.

“The Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB) is delighted that this review has been completed and published and that it confirmed the original report’s results. Once again, the OIG did not find any cause to question the relationship between CBB and its contractors, nor did OIG find inappropriate reimbursement of contractor expenses,” CBB Chairman Weldon Wynn said in a news release. “The bottom line is that producers and importers can be assured by the OIG report, the peer review of that report and CBB’s mission of continual improvement that their checkoff dollars are being invested appropriately and effectively.”

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