I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4141 

To direct the Administrator of the United States Agency for International 

Development to take appropriate actions to improve the nutritional quality, quality control, and cost effectiveness of United States food assistance, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 5, 2012 

Mr. PAYNE (for himself, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. 

COHEN, and Ms. BASS of California) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the 

Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by 

the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To direct the Administrator of the United States Agency 

for International Development to take appropriate actions to improve the nutritional quality, quality control, 

and cost effectiveness of United States food assistance, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘International Food As5 sistance Improvement Act of 2012’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) For more than 55 years the United States, 

4 backed by the support of the American people, has 

5 been committed to providing life-saving food assist6 ance to developing countries and vulnerable popu7 lations around the world. 

8 (2) As the largest donor of international food 

9 assistance, an essential tool in tackling malnutrition, 

10 the United States can lead the way in improving 

11 food aid quality to better target undernourished 

12 women and children. 

13 (3) The United States contributes over one-half 

14 of all food aid supplies to alleviate hunger and sup15 port development and plays an important role in re16 sponding to emergency food aid needs and ensuring 

17 global food security. 

18 (4) Over the past decade, increasing food prices 

19 and protracted humanitarian crises around the world 

20 have made United States food assistance even more 

21 critical and relevant. At the same time, these fac22 tors, combined with advancements in nutrition 

23 science, as well as severe and ongoing fiscal con24 straints, have led to an increased demand by policy25 makers and program implementers for new specially 

26 formulated and cost-effective products to meet the 


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1 nutritional needs of the world’s most vulnerable pop2 ulations. 

3 (5) While United States food assistance is effec4 tive in providing critical calories and nutrients to 

5 millions of people during short-term emergencies, 

6 the long-term impacts of these programs have also 

7 been increasingly called into question for not meet8 ing the nutritional needs of recipient populations. 

9 (6) Reducing maternal and child malnutrition, 

10 especially in the critical 1,000 days between preg11 nancy and age 2, is a key priority of United States 

12 global food security and health initiatives, including 

13 food aid. 

14 (7) Recent reports by the Government Account15 ability Office and the United States Agency for 

16 International Development recommended over 35 

17 changes to United States food aid products and pro18 grams to improve the nutritional quality, quality 

19 control, and cost effectiveness of United States food 

20 assistance. 

21 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

22 It is the sense of Congress that— 

23 (1) even in this time of fiscal austerity, the 

24 American people support the United States Govern25 ment’s historic commitment to providing life-saving 


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1 food assistance to the world’s most vulnerable popu2 lations; 

3 (2) high food prices, coupled with growing con4 straints on available resources for foreign assistance 

5 require the United States Government to focus on 

6 creating efficiencies, improving quality controls, and 

7 maximizing cost-effectiveness and nutritional impact 

8 of United States food assistance programs; 

9 (3) improving maternal and child health with 

10 supplemental nutrition products is a central objec11 tive of international food assistance programs; and 

12 (4) the United States has shown considerable 

13 leadership in meeting the nutrition needs of preg14 nant women and small children through the 1,000 

15 Days Partnership to support the Scaling Up Nutri16 tion (SUN) movement. 

17 SEC. 4. PROVISION OF AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES. 

18 Section 202(h) of the Food for Peace Act (7 U.S.C. 

19 1722(h)) is amended by striking paragraph (1) and insert20 ing the following: 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall 

22 use funds made available in fiscal year 2012 and 

23 subsequent fiscal years to carry out this title to im24 prove the nutritional quality of United States food 

25 assistance, particularly for vulnerable groups such as 


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1 pregnant and lactating mothers, children under the 

2 age of five, with a focus on the cost-effective 1,000 

3 days between pregnancy and age 2, when appro4 priate, and beneficiaries under the President’s 

5 Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief in Africa 

6 (PEPFAR), including by— 

7 ‘‘(A) adopting new specifications or im8 proving existing specifications for micronutrient 

9 fortified food aid products, based on the latest 

10 developments in food and nutrition science; 

11 ‘‘(B) strengthening necessary systems to 

12 better assess the types and quality of agricul13 tural commodities and products donated for 

14 food assistance; 

15 ‘‘(C) adjusting products and formulations, 

16 including potential introduction of new 

17 fortificants and products, as necessary to cost 

18 effectively meet nutrient needs of target popu19 lations; 

20 ‘‘(D) testing prototypes; 

21 ‘‘(E) developing new program guidance to 

22 facilitate improved matching of products to pur23 poses having nutritional intent, including an 

24 updated commodity reference guide and deci25 sion tools; 


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1 ‘‘(F) developing enhanced guidance, in co2 ordination with the Coordinator of United 

3 States Government Activities to Combat HIV/ 

4 AIDS Globally and PEPFAR, to support the 

5 allocation of food commodities and products for 

6 nutrition support in HIV programming, using 

7 standardized indicators of impact; 

8 ‘‘(G) providing improved guidance to im9 plementing partners on how to address nutri10 tional deficiencies that emerge among recipients 

11 for whom food assistance is the sole source of 

12 diet in emergency programs that extend beyond 

13 one year; 

14 ‘‘(H) considering options for using United 

15 States-produced food fortification packages, in16 cluding vitamin and mineral mixes, to fortify 

17 local foods in recipient countries, as appro18 priate; and 

19 ‘‘(I) evaluating, in appropriate program 

20 settings and as necessary, the performance and 

21 cost-effectiveness of new or modified specialized 

22 food products and program approaches de23 signed to meet the nutritional needs of the most 

24 vulnerable groups.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. FOOD AID CONSULTATIVE GROUP. 

2 (a) MEMBERSHIP.—Section 205(b) of the Food for 

3 Peace Act (7 U.S.C. 1725(b)) is amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

5 end; 

6 (2) in paragraph (7), by striking the period and 

7 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

8 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(8) nutrition science experts from academia 

10 and nongovernmental organizations.’’. 

11 (b) COORDINATION AND OVERSIGHT.—Section 205 

12 of the Food for Peace Act (7 U.S.C. 1725) is amended— 

13 (1) by redesignating subsections (d), (e), and 

14 (f) as subsections (e), (f), and (g), respectively; and 

15 (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(d) COORDINATION AND OVERSIGHT.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall 

19 work within the Group to take the actions described 

20 in paragraph (2) to increase coordination and over21 sight of food assistance programs established and 

22 implemented under this Act, with a primary focus on 

23 improving quality control and cost effectiveness. 

24 ‘‘(2) ACTIONS DESCRIBED.—The actions re25 ferred to in paragraph (1) are the following: 


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1 ‘‘(A) Explore and test options for improved 

2 packaging and storage of products to improve 

3 shelf life, promote recommended usage by in4 tended beneficiaries, and oversee field-testing of 

5 products. 

6 ‘‘(B) Work closely with the Department of 

7 Agriculture, to undertake reforms in commodity 

8 acquisition and supply chain management, 

9 drawing on best commercial practices for ven10 dor selection, quality assurance standards, over11 all management of the supply chain, and audit12 ing of food aid commodity suppliers. 

13 ‘‘(C) Develop mechanisms and partner14 ships to facilitate more private sector develop15 ment and innovation in food aid products, pack16 aging, and delivery in order to improve the cost17 effectiveness, nutritional quality, and overall ac18 ceptability of the product. 

19 ‘‘(D) Provide guidance to implementing 

20 partners on whether and how best to use food 

21 aid commodities, such as new specialized food 

22 products, including guidance on targeting strat23 egies to ensure that the products reach their in24 tended recipients. 


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1 ‘‘(E) As appropriate, work to strengthen 

2 monitoring of commodity quality by identifying 

3 and tracking key quality indicators to determine 

4 the full extent of quality problems, including 

5 emerging concerns. 

6 ‘‘(F) Establish processes and system-wide 

7 protocols for effective monitoring and evalua8 tion of impact, to inform improved program de9 sign and address improving cost-effectiveness.’’. 

10 SEC. 6. STRATEGY AND REPORT. 

11 (a) STRATEGY.—The Administrator shall ensure that 

12 any United States Government strategy relating to global 

13 food security includes a description of how food assistance 

14 programs carried out under the Food for Peace Act will 

15 contribute to, and be integrated with, such strategy. 

16 (b) REPORT.—The Administrator shall ensure that 

17 comprehensive information regarding budgets and expend18 itures, monitoring and evaluation, policy, and coordination 

19 of food assistance programs carried out under the Food 

20 for Peace Act is included, as appropriate, in relevant re21 ports submitted to Congress pursuant to the Foreign As22 sistance Act of 1961 and Acts making appropriations for 

23 the Department of State, foreign operations, and related 

24 programs. 


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1 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis4 trator’’ means the Administrator of the United 

5 States Agency for International Development. 

6 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT7 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com8 mittees’’ means— 

9 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 

10 the Committee on Appropriations of the House 

11 of Representatives; and 

12 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

13 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

14 Senate. 

15 SEC. 8. FUNDING. 

16 Nothing in this Act or any amendment made by this 

17 Act shall be construed to authorize the appropriation of 

18 amounts to carry out this Act or any amendment made 

19 by this Act. 

Æ 


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