Farm Service Agency: Additional Actions Needed to Address Employee Conflict-of-Interest Issues
RCED-97-104
Published: Apr 25, 1997. Publicly Released: May 27, 1997.
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Highlights
GAO reviewed conflicts of interest in the Farm Service Agency's (FSA) farm loan program, focusing on the: (1) number of FSA's federal and nonfederal employees and county committee members who have FSA farm loans; (2) comparative size and repayment history of farm loans to FSA's federal employees, FSA's nonfederal employees, county committee members, and other FSA borrowers; (3) number of cases FSA has identified requiring action to avoid conflicts of interest; and (4) actions FSA has taken to address these cases.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Agriculture | The Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Administrator, FSA, to clarify FSA's policy and guidance that define situations constituting potential conflicts of interest and the actions that are needed for addressing such cases. |
Closed – Implemented
Subsequent to this review, the Office of Government Ethics informed the Farm Service Agency that its conflicts of interest requirements did not meet government standards. On March 24, 2000, the Farm Service Agency issued new regulations to meet Office of Government of Ethics requirements on the avoidance of conflicts of interest by its federal employees. The guidance does provides some clarifications as GAO recommended, but agency officials said that it does not fully resole the issues. In addition, the guidance does not address the agency's non-federal employees or county committee members. It is not clear that further action will be taken.
|
| Department of Agriculture | The Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Administrator, FSA, to require all state offices to address conflict-of-interest cases using the revised policy and guidance. |
Closed – Not Implemented
Agency guidance does not address non-federal employees which is a prerequisite for implementation of the recommendation. The agency is reviewing employee conflict of interest disclosures annually and when an employee informs the agency of a business relationship that requires review. FSA plans no further action at this time.
|
| Department of Agriculture | The Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Administrator, FSA, to monitor and review state and county offices' actions to ensure that the efforts to address conflicts of interest are adequate and thorough. |
Closed – Implemented
USDA has partially addressed this issue.
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Topics
Agricultural programsConflict of interestsDelinquent loansDirect loansFarm creditFarm income stabilization programsFederal employeesstate relationsGovernment guaranteed loansLoan repayments