Title: American Food for American Schools Act of 2018
Policy area: Agriculture and Food

Summary:
American Food for American Schools Act of 2018
This bill amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require school food authorities (SFAs) to request a waiver from the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to purchase foreign commodities or products for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). SFAs may purchase foreign commodities or products without a waiver if the commodities or products are not produced or available domestically.
(Under current law, Buy American provisions require SFAs to purchase, to the maximum extent practicable, domestic commodities or products for the NSLP. There are limited exceptions which permit the purchase of foreign products in circumstances when using domestic products is truly not practicable. If an SFA uses an exception, there is no requirement to request a waiver to purchase a foreign product or commodity, but the SFA must keep documentation justifying the exception.)
USDA may not grant a waiver for an SFA to purchase foreign commodities or products unless: (1) the commodities or products are not produced domestically in sufficient amounts or of satisfactory quality, (2) the domestic commodities or products would be significantly higher in price than foreign commodities or products, and (3) the SFA agrees to make the waiver publicly available on its website and email a notification of the waiver to parents or guardians of students who will be served the foreign commodity or product purchased pursuant to the waiver.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2641 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2641

 To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to improve 
 the requirement to purchase domestic commodities or products, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 10, 2018

 Mr. Sullivan (for himself and Ms. Cantwell) introduced the following 
      bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                  Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to improve 
 the requirement to purchase domestic commodities or products, and for 
                            other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``American Food for American Schools 
Act of 2018''.

SEC. 2. WAIVER TO PURCHASE FOREIGN COMMODITIES OR PRODUCTS.

    (a) In General.--Section 12(n) of the Richard B. Russell National 
School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1760(n)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and (B) as 
                clauses (i) and (ii), respectively, and indenting 
                appropriately;
                    (B) in the matter preceding clause (i) (as so 
                redesignated), by striking ``(1) Definition'' and all 
                that follows through ``the'' and inserting the 
                following:
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Domestic commodity or product.--The''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(B) Foreign commodity or product.--The term 
                `foreign commodity or product' means an agricultural 
                commodity or food product other than a domestic 
                commodity or product.''; and
            (2) in paragraph (2)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``subparagraph 
                (B)'' and inserting ``subparagraphs (B) and (C)''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(C) Waiver.--
                            ``(i) Waiver request.--Except as provided 
                        in clause (ii), to purchase a foreign commodity 
                        or product, a school food authority shall 
                        request from the Secretary a waiver of 
                        subparagraph (A).
                            ``(ii) Exception.--A school food authority 
                        may purchase a foreign commodity or product 
                        without a waiver under clause (i) if the 
                        foreign commodity or product is--
                                    ``(I) produced domestically; or
                                    ``(II) available domestically.
                            ``(iii) Requirements.--The Secretary shall 
                        not grant a waiver to purchase a foreign 
                        commodity or product under clause (i) unless--
                                    ``(I) as determined by the 
                                Secretary, the commodity or product--
                                            ``(aa) is not produced 
                                        domestically in a sufficient 
                                        quantity or of a satisfactory 
                                        quality; and
                                            ``(bb) if purchased 
                                        domestically, would be 
                                        significantly higher in price 
                                        than a foreign commodity or 
                                        product; and
                                    ``(II) the school food authority 
                                requesting the waiver agrees--
                                            ``(aa) to make the waiver 
                                        publicly available on the 
                                        website of the school food 
                                        authority; and
                                            ``(bb) to email a 
                                        notification of the waiver to 
                                        parents or guardians of 
                                        students who will be served the 
                                        foreign commodity or product 
                                        purchased pursuant to the 
                                        waiver.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--Section 12(n) of the Richard B. Russell 
National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1760(n)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ``Paragraph (2)(A)'' and 
        inserting ``Subparagraphs (A) and (C) of paragraph (2)''; and
            (2) in paragraph (4), by striking ``Paragraph (2)(A)'' and 
        inserting ``Subparagraphs (A) and (C) of paragraph (2)''.
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