Audit of USAID/Bolivia"s management of PL 480 Title II commodity losses

480 Title II commodity losses for FYs 1997 and 1998. Cooperating sponsors reviewed for the audit included Food for the Hungry International (FHI), Project Concern International (PCI), and the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA). A fourth cooperating sponsor, Caritas Boliviana, was excluded from the audit. According to an unaudited report provided by the Mission, food aid and associated transportation costs totaled $27,486,195 for the three cooperating sponsors reviewed. Of this amount, $164,704, representing 0.6% of the total dollar value, and 441,429 kg, representing 0.7% of the total weight in metric tons of commodities received by the cooperating sponsors during the audit period, were lost. These losses stemmed from the fact that: (1) cooperating sponsors were not submitting complete and accurate commodity loss information on a quarterly basis, and (2) the Mission did not have its own system to track commodity losses and claims. Consequently, the risk exists that significant commodity losses could occur in the future without the Mission being able to quickly identify and correct the causes. Two recommendations for improvements to reduce this risk were made. Although the Mission did not agree with all the specific findings of the audit, it did concur that its management systems for tracking losses and claims needed improvement and outlined its corrective actions.