Audit of USAID/Jamaica"s PL-480, Title I local currency denial of access to records

480 Title I local currency program in Jamaica. Audit covers FY"s 1986-87. Proceeds from the sale of P.L. 480 Title I commodities for FY86-87, totaling the equivalent of some $26.9 million, were used to support 52 projects in agriculture and rural development, most of which received their primary funding from external donors (including A.I.D.). However, the auditors were unable to determine the particular end uses of the entire $26.9 million in local currency because certain Government of Jamaica (GOJ) officials responsible for the projects denied the auditors access to their records until audit authority was clarified. The officials did this because the Title I sales agreements for 1986 and 1987 did not specify that A.I.D. has the right to audit the program. Also, they believed that the financing received by the projects came from the GOJ"s own funds and not from an A.I.D.-financed program. An audit recommendation that, in accordance with A.I.D. Handbook 9, all Title I sales agreements include standard provisions authorizing audit authority has not been accepted by the General Counsel for Latin America and the Caribbean. Management suggests that the recommendation is valid for some countries, but may not be appropriate or practicable in others. is that audit authority for reviews at the central government level is usually satisfactory, and additional audit requirements should be made only on a case-by-case basis, especially as the host country is paying its Title I debt with dollars and as such should be less subject to U.S. oversight. The auditors continue to feel that the accuracy of reporting on local currency uses requires expenditure reviews at end-user projects and that it is not sufficient to review central government records. The recommendation remains open.