I © \ ISSZZ* V ^ PRO^ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Inspector General At a Glance 2005-1 -00082 May 4, 2005 Catalyst for Improving the Environment Why We Did This Review The Pesticide Registration Improvement Act requires that we perform an annual audit of the Pesticide Registration Fund (known as PRIA) financial statements and report findings and recommendations resulting from the audit. Background To expedite the registration of certain pesticides, Congress authorized EPA to assess and collect pesticide registration fees. The fees collected are deposited into the Pesticide Registration Fund. The Agency is required to prepare financial statements that present financial information about the Fund. For further information, contact our Office of Congressional and Public Liaison at (202) 566-2391. To view the full report, click on the following link: www.epa.qov/oiq/reports/2005/ 20050504-2005-1 -00082.pdf Fiscal 2004 Financial Statements for the Pesticide Registration Fund Opinion We rendered an unqualified, or clean, opinion on EPA's Pesticides Registration Fund Financial Statements for fiscal 2004, meaning that they were fairly presented and free of material misstatement. Internal Control Reportable Conditions Noted We identified the following reportable conditions: • We could not assess the adequacy of the automated controls. • EPA needs to improve financial statement preparation. Compliance with Laws and Regulations We tested compliance with those laws and regulations that could either materially affect the PRIA Fund financial statements, or that we considered significant to the audit. The objective of our audit, including our tests of compliance with applicable laws and regulations, was not to provide an opinion on overall compliance with such provisions. Accordingly, we do not express such an opinion. What We Recommend We recommend that the Director, Reporting and Analysis Staff: (a) ensure that products issued from the office, especially Financial Statements, footnotes, supplemental information, and overviews, are properly reviewed prior to release or submittal for audit; and (b) establish milestone due dates for the PRIA 2005 financial statement audit. ------- |