USAID Limited Excess Property Program
Conference Call Minutes
Tuesday May 5, 2009 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Speakers:
Mauricio Vera, Acting Director of the Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives at USAID
Welford Walker, Excess Property Coordinator, Limited Excess Property Program at USAID
Mauricio Vera
I'm the Acting Director of the CFBCI at the US Agency for International Development. Thank you for joining us today. As you know, we do these conference calls to provide you all with information on the Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives as well as on a variety of USAID programs. We have received constructive feedback from you on these conference calls. Thank you for joining us today. As you may know, the CFBCI serves as a bridge between faith-based and community-based (FBCOs) organizations and the U.S. government (USG). We provide information to aid FBCOs to increase their capacity and to compete for funding and offer a better understanding on the programs USAID provides. We have the pleasure of having Mr. Welford Walker on the call today. He has some remarks regarding the program and then we will welcome your questions. We are looking forward to the today's discussion.
Welford Walker
I'm here to explain the procedures and provide you all with more information about the Limited Excess Property Program (LEPP) at USAID. LEPP is a program that allows NGOs to acquire U.S. government excess property for use in their programs and projects overseas. This property can include computers, medical supplies, vehicles, boats, trailers, furniture, etc. As with many USAID programs, FBCOs wanting to work with LEPP must first be registered with the Agency as Private Voluntary Organizations. For more information on the registration process, click here.
Once the PVO registration has been approved we will work with the organization to create an excess property transfer agreement. The excess property transfer agreement is a letter from the Agency stating that you are authorized to receive U.S. Government excess property. You do not need to have identified the specific good that you want transferred to your NGO in order to get the agreement, but you must identify the types of property you are interested in and the countries to which you would like to transfer the property.
Once that agreement has been executed then you are free to apply for excess property through USAID's program. (Scroll down to see the detailed Excess Property Ordering Procedures.) It is the responsibility of the organization to locate the property they need, refurbish it, and ship it. In order for the property to be shipped to a country, the organization first needs to get approval from the USAID mission or the U.S. Embassy in the country of destination. The Embassy or Mission needs to confirm in the Section 607 certification that there is a need and that the goods shipped will serve a useful purpose. It is usually the mission director or designee in the USAID mission that approves the donation or Economic Officer at the U.S. Embassy when there is no USAID office in that country. It is the responsibility of the FBCO to ensure that the donations are in good condition and to make the necessary refurbishments if it is not.
There are several other government agencies that have Excess Property Programs.
U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) Humanitarian Assistance Programs.
U.S. General Services Administration (GSA)
We will coordinate your entrance to these institutions. Before you get the property you must have approval not only from USAID but also approval from the local government for the shipment. If you do not have this, the materials will be held until you receive the necessary clearances. This can slow the process down, so that is why you want to make sure you have all the necessary approvals prior to attempting to obtain and ship the goods.
The organization must prepare a pro-forma transfer order (SF-122) with cover letter stating country destination and the USAID country approval attached.
The organization is responsible to pick up the property on an "as is, where is" basis. USAID will not pay for the transportation of this property. There are a variety of items available: ambulances, medical supplies, vehicles, boats, trailers, furniture, etc. Approval is granted on a case-by case basis.
LEPP has had $30 million in donations go to FBCOs in the last year. We have also donated to the countries through the USAID missions. For example, we donated flu vaccine to El Salvador through the USAID mission. The Center for Disease Control had flu vaccine to donate and came to me. USAID, CDC and GSA worked together to donate over $1 million to El Salvador in flu vaccine. We are also currently working to donate flu vaccine to Mexico for the current crisis.
I'd welcome your specific questions regarding the program.
Q&A
How can we determine what is available before going through the paper process? We are working in a hospital in Haiti.
GSA has a website. You can look to see what is available through the website. There are many services available including GSAXcess property, sales, auctions, etc. Search for the code for the property item you are looking for once you are a program participant. Both GSA and Department of Defense have search mechanisms that you can use. You can also call me, Welford Walker at 202-459-4703 or email me at wwalker@usaid.gov. Supplies always vary. They are mostly located at the Department of Defense warehouses spotted around the country, but we also have access to civilian offices as well. GSA has ten state offices and, as I said, Department of Defense has locations throughout the country and overseas.
As for Haiti specifically, I would suggest that you touch base directly with the Military group at the embassy. Develop a rapport with them and let them know what you need. The U.S. Department of Defense has an excess property program that handles the donation of non-lethal excess property to governments that work with the U.S. to avert humanitarian crises, Promote democratic development and regional stability, Enable countries to recover from conflict and to Stave off acute crises and therefore minimize the need to deploy US Forces. To learn more, click here.
Additionally, we would encourage you to consider partnering with other PVOs. Collaboration is a very beneficial practice.
My organization is currently working in the Republic Democratic of Congo. Is there a specific list of countries that you work in? Is there a way to add a country to the list? Can excess property be sent to the DRC?
Yes, the LEPP applies to the DRC as well. The problem we have encountered in the past with DRC is the transportation into the country. We can provide assistance, but the problem is getting the goods to the community. The more countries we can work in the merrier. It does however depend a lot upon the local infrastructure. If there is no reliable transportation to the community you will encounter problems. That is something that needs to be worked out with the local government. If you can let them know there are donors lined up to give supplies that might help.
Is there a listing of those countries where there is a standing rapport? I am specifically thinking of Ghana and Benin?
Yes. We have a rapport with Ghana. We recently had an x-ray machine sent from Germany to Accra, Ghana.
I would suggest that you also try partnering with other organizations within Ghana. You can look at the USAID website for the country that you are working in and see who the implementing partners are within that country. It is so important that organizations work together because in the end it is much more cost effective and efficient.
Close - Mauricio Vera
Please send any additional questions we did not have time to address to fbci@usaid.gov and we will provide answers. The minutes from this call will be posted on the USAID CFBCI website and included in the weekly email newsletter. As always, please let us know what you would like to hear about. We always appreciate your feedback.
EXCESS PROPERTY ORDERING PROCEDURES
Below are the basic prerequisites for obtaining U.S. Government excess property through the USAID Limited Excess Property Program (LEPP).
The PVO shall be approved by and registered with USAID through the Office of Development Programs, Private and Voluntary Cooperation (ODP/PVC). http://pvo.usaid.gov A request to participate in the LEPP shall be sent to the subject office for concurrence. The PVO shall have an executed excess property transfer agreement with USAID that cites the terms and conditions for the transfer of excess property. The PVO shall have a specific need for the excess property for a specific project in a specific country and USAID or Embassy personnel where there is no USAID/Mission will certify this via Section 607 certification. PVO shall research the availability of U.S. Government excess property within the GSA or military network. Prior to visiting DRMO or GSA holding areas, the PVO shall have a listing of property needed; a recipient identified and project approval before putting a freeze on excess property. Also prior to visit, USAID/Washington will have Section 607 certification that "there is a need in the quantity requested" by the PVO from the Mission or Embassy of the country that the project is located. Your staff or partners in country should touch base with the USAID/Mission or Embassy personnel to advise them of your organization's intentions. DRMOs do not want PVOs freezing property and then un freezing said property when the PVO has not done his homework in obtaining project approval beforehand. DRMOs have advised USAID that they will not honor the PVOs future freeze requests if this happens. PVO shall prepare the Transfer Order (SF-122) and submit the SF-122 with a cover letter to M/OP/PS/OCC for approval. The subject letter will advise USAID what country and project the property is destined before the SF 122 is approved. After approval by USAID, the SF 122 will be sent to GSA or DRMO for their approval. PVO shall pick up the property on an "as is/where is" basis. PVO shall transport at own expense the acquired property from the holding area to its facilities in the conus for shipment to your projects overseas. PVO shall ensure that the residual value, serviceability, and appearance of the property to be shipped or transferred will not reflect unfavorably on the image of the United States.
I hope that the above has given you a general idea of how the subject program is currently operating. If there are any questions contact Mr. Welford Walker at 202-459-4703 or wwalker@usaid.gov.
Excess U.S. Government Property Gets New Life as Overseas Aid
Thousands of Jamaicans left homeless by hurricane Ivan last September were provided tents to use as shelter in the immediate aftermath of the storm. More recently, large cargo trucks were able to traverse treacherous terrain in the vast jungles of Guyana to deliver food and supplies to victims of another storm that caused heavy flooding.
The tents and cargo trucks were provided by Food for the Poor (FFP), a private voluntary organization (PVO) that received the supplies and equipment through a USAID program. Established by the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, the program is administered by USAID's procurement office, which serves as the liaison for transferring U.S. government property to PVOs-more commonly known as NGOs-for use in overseas projects.
"Through a transfer agreement with USAID, our organization has received donated excess property for over 15 years," said Cliff Feldman, a program specialist with FFP, which provides humanitarian aid and development assistance to poor people in 14 countries throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.
Excess property-be it computers, tents, respirators, or staplers-is available from various federal government agencies, and is available for use by PVOs who register with USAID. Excess property is regularly listed on websites maintained by the General Services Administration and the Department of Defense.
Welford Walker, who has run the day-to-day operations of the program for nearly 20 years, noticed recently that the Department of Defense's list mentioned a new cardiac machine located at a U.S. Army base in Germany. He made a phone call, and was told that the base had ordered two of these machines and only needed one. Walker then notified the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), which in November took the machine and donated it to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Ghana.
The machine, the first of its kind in the West Africa region, is valued at $1.6 million. It is a critical piece of medical equipment that will diagnose heart and blood disorders in Ghana, where cardiovascular disease is becoming a major health problem leading to death and premature illness, Walker said.
The Agency also recently facilitated the donation of incubators through the PVO Healing Hands International for hospitals in the Ukraine.
"This program allows us to find equipment and supplies for overseas programs that otherwise would end up in a landfill," said Dr. Ed Enzor, director of operations at Healing Hands. "This is an exciting form of foreign aid and goodwill at no cost to the U.S. government."
Some $30 million to $35 million in excess property was donated to PVOs during each of the last three years said USAID Program Manager Renata Cameron.
Everything from vehicles to medical equipment and clothing is passed along to organizations such as Feed the Children, Salesian Missions, and Catholic Relief Services. Some 87 percent of all excess property-worth more than $31 million-transferred during 2004 went to faith-based organizations.
Excess property is for use only by USAID missions and PVOs in USAID-financed or authorized recipient-financed programs worldwide. Registered PVOs must have a specific existing need for the requested property in its programs overseas; receive USAID mission or embassy certification of the donations, and pay shipping costs.
For more information, search "PVO Registration" at http://pvo.usaid.gov.
Nancy Barnett contributed to this article.
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