Let’s be honest. When you hear anything with the words compliance or audit attached to them, these terms conjure uneasiness—something we all appreciate less of. You might think, “Uh-oh, this can’t be good,” but if you’ve ever had a visit, a letter, or a phone call from United States Potato Board (USPB) Compliance, you’ll know it really is better than it sounds.
The motto of USPB Compliance is “We’re Here to Help,” and the same as every USPB program, our goal is ultimately to inform growers and empower the industry with information and resources to “maximize return on grower investment.”
USPB Compliance is accountable to the entire U.S. potato industry and has a fiduciary trust to ensure the assessment program is administered equitably to all. We are extremely dedicated to ensuring the collective funding into the USPB by the industry is scrupulously accounted for. This includes reminding a producer of potatoes or a handler of their obligation to help fund the national effort to increase demand for potatoes, should they ever find themselves in arrears on their USPB payments.
The USPB Finance Department generates a monthly exceptions report listing those handlers who are not current. We contact them through calls and reminder letters, and work with them, establishing a plan to get caught up. After 30 days, if the matter remains unresolved, we send a 30-day notice. Then 30 days later, if a handler’s delinquency has still not been satisfied, we then issue a final notice. If there is no response to the final notice, the USPB will prepare a case and turn to USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) to help with collection on behalf of the USPB. AMS will attempt to collect with warning letters and phone calls. In addition USPB will select this handler for a compliance audit, along with additional random audits added to the trip. This entails an on-site meeting with USPB compliance investigator Pamela Lee.
The purpose of the audit is to collect outstanding payments, resolve issues, answer questions and communicate the importance of continued funding into the USPB’s coordinated research, market development, and advertising and promotion programs. It is the collective funding of the U.S. potato industry that strengthens the competitive position of U.S. potatoes while maintaining and expanding domestic and foreign markets for potatoes and potato products.
Generally, USPB compliance audits end much better than they begin. We really are here to help. Issues are resourcefully addressed, and questions are answered. The initial trepidation a handler may feel is replaced with mutual understanding and respect. It’s not just about collecting money. It’s also about making sure the handler is aware of who their grower representative is on the USPB, and also to encourage their involvement so they can grasp the real importance of their participation in funding the USPB.
USPB Compliance also schedules random audits. These are audits with handlers who are current on their USPB assessments, but the meeting is scheduled as part of an industry outreach effort to handlers and is a time to answer questions and provide information. There have also been a few instances when it was discovered a handler had paid too much on their assessment, and they, in fact, received refunds for overpayment. After all, fair is fair!
In some cases, if after attempts to collect by the USPB and AMS resources are unsuccessful then the noncompliant case can be referred to other USDA resources on USPB’s behalf. Once this process is started,
The USPB Compliance Program is successful. The following are the actual collected revenue for the past three fiscal years from internal, USPB Compliance and random audits:
FY 2012: $232,546
FY 2013: $102,682
FY 2014: $185,218
Overall, we want growers to understand how they benefit from the programs they invest in. Individually, even the largest of farm corporations could never come close to affording the research and market development work the USPB fulfills. Collectively, the industry accomplishes far more return on investment than any single entity could by standing alone.