This bill, the Buy American Seafood Act, would stop federal agencies from buying foreign seafood for certain federal feeding programs. Seafood would have to be either: (1) harvested in the United States by a United States-flagged fishing vessel, or (2) produced or processed in the United States through aquaculture or domestic seafood processing. The bill defines terms such as aquaculture, domestic seafood processing, seafood, United States-flagged fishing vessel, and United States-produced.
The Secretary of Agriculture can waive the ban if there is not enough U.S.-produced seafood to meet program needs or if the seafood does not meet required food safety or quality standards. Any waiver must be published in the Federal Register and reported to Congress within 30 days and must describe the program, the seafood, the waiver duration, and the Secretary's determination.
The bill updates the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to add these seafood definitions and a similar waiver process for school lunch and school breakfast programs. It lists covered food programs to include the Emergency Food Assistance Act programs, Department of Defense subsistence or food service programs, FEMA disaster food programs, and other agency programs that purchase or distribute food with federal funds.
The Secretary of Agriculture must issue regulations to implement the law within 180 days after enactment, in consultation with the Secretaries of Commerce and Defense, and may issue guidance to agencies. The bill states that no additional money is authorized to carry out the Act.
No publicly available information on estimated costs. The bill explicitly says it does not authorize any additional appropriations to carry out the Act.
No publicly available information.
No publicly available information.