The Foreign Service Journal, May 2009

M A Y 2 0 0 9 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 21 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 eas- ier for U.S. businesses to do busi- ness, 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 busi- nesses 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 launch- ed five years ago. Washington-based officers previously assigned to promote particular commodities are now or- ganized 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 organ- ized by commodity. “It’s thrown a big curve into the functioning of the agency and required us to re- establish 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 Ameri- can companies navigate bureaucratic hurdles; conduct- ing policy analysis, for example on biofuel use in South America or the effect of climate change on food produc- tion; 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. F O C U S Officers in both services glory in a can-do, practical culture that they say differs from the more cerebral one at State.