The Government of the United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is pleased to announce that 30 BiH farmers will receive Certificates of Participation for attending a study tour to Poland for berry producers. The ceremony will take place on April 14, at 2:00 p.m., at the Hotel Saraj in Sarajevo. The USAID/BiH Mission Director Allan Reed and Swedish International Development Agency (Sida) Director Anders Hedlund will congratulate the participants and award them certificates. All media are invited to cover the event. Poland is one of the leading berry-producers in the European Union. In order to tap into this expertise, the USAID--Sida Fostering Agricultural Markets Activity (FARMA) project organized a study tour for 30 BiH farmers to exchange experiences with their Polish hosts on issues relating to production and processing of berries and seedlings. During the trip, which took place from March 28 to April 3, 2010, the group visited the Polish Fruit Production Institute and laboratories for product certification and testing in order to get exposure to EU certification processes and requirements. The FARMA project is a four-year, $14 million agricultural and agri-business development initiative supported by the U.S. and Swedish governments. The goal of FARMA is to improve the competitiveness of BiH agricultural and food producers. FARMA will expand environmentally sustainable production, processing and sales of value-added agricultural products. Ultimately, this will lead to sustainable and broad-based economic growth for BiH. To date, the U.S. Government, through USAID, has provided close to $1.5 billion in assistance to support economic, democratic and social progress in BiH. The following event will be open to the press: 14:00-14:10 Remarks by - Mr. Allan Reed, USAID/BiH Mission Director - Mr. Anders Hedlund, Sida Director 14:10 -14:30 Observations of the study tour in Poland 14:30-15:00 Final remarks and awarding Certificates of Participation