Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 48 - PUBLIC HEALTH-GENERAL › Part V - Preventive Health Services › Subpart 15 - Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) › Chapter 45 - Vendor Selection, Participation and Sanctions › Section V-4503 - Vendor Selection Criteria

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
A.
				  As outlined in  7 CFR part 246, LA WIC has the responsibility to maximize the
				  use of available funds by providing WIC-approved food items to WIC participants
				  at the most reasonable prices and to have an agreement with enough vendors to
				  ensure adequate participant access. LA WIC reserves the right to implement
				  limiting criteria on vendors statewide in order to meet this responsibility. If
				  LA WIC elects to implement such limiting criteria, the criteria shall be made
				  available and applied consistently.
B. WIC federal regulations at
				  7 CFR §
											246.12 mandate that state WIC agencies must
				  develop and implement selection criteria to select only qualified vendors to
				  provide WIC-approved food items to WIC participants. Specific vendor selection
				  criteria must be addressed while allowing WIC state agencies to identify
				  additional vendor selection criteria to further enhance services to WIC
				  participants.
C. LA WIC has
				  established vendor selection criteria in conjunction with and with approval
				  from the USDA. The vendor selection criteria are published within this Subpart
				  and in the vendor rules and regulations.
D. In order to be eligible to participate in
				  LA WIC, the vendor applicant, including any of the vendor applicant's current
				  owners, officers, or managers and/or vendors shall:
1. stock and maintain sufficient quantities
				  and varieties of all WIC approved food items in accordance with LA WIC's
				  minimum stock requirements (MSR). See
				  7 CFR §
												246.12(g)(3)(i);
2. not have been convicted of or had a civil
				  judgment entered against them for any activity indicating a lack of business
				  integrity during the last six years. Activities indicating a lack of business
				  integrity include fraud, antitrust violations, embezzlement, theft, forgery,
				  bribery, falsification or destruction of records, making false statements,
				  receiving stolen property, making false claims, and obstruction of justice [see
				  7 CFR §
												246.12(g)(3)(ii)];
3. not be currently disqualified from SNAP or
				  have been assessed a SNAP Civil Money Penalty (CMP) for hardship and the
				  disqualification period that would have otherwise been imposed has not expired.
				  [see 7 CFR §
												246.12(g)(3)(iii)];
4. have prices that are competitive with
				  other vendors in LA WIC's designated peer group, as determined by the LA WIC's
				  competitive price criteria (CPC). All vendors are subject to CPC at all times
				  to ensure cost containment. Applying vendors, whose prices are higher than the
				  CPC applicable to their peer groups, shall be informed and given one
				  opportunity to lower their prices to meet the CPC. [see
				  7 CFR §
												246.12(g)(4)];
5. purchase infant formula only from vendors
				  included on LA WIC's list of infant formula manufacturers registered with the
				  Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that provide infant formula, and licensed
				  infant formula wholesalers, distributors, and retailers. This list can be found
				  on the LA WIC website at ldh.la.gov/wicvendor;
6. not derive or expect to derive more than
				  50 percent of annual food sales revenue from WIC transactions. [see
				  7 CFR §
												246.12(g)(4)(i).];
7. agree to be placed in a vendor peer group
				  with other above-50-percent (A-50) vendors when deriving or expecting to derive
				  more than 50 percent of their annual food sales revenue from WIC transactions.
				  Vendors within this peer group shall maintain WIC approved food item prices at
				  a level such that the average payments for A-50 vendors does not exceed average
				  payments to regular vendors; [see
				  7 CFR §
												246.12(g)(4)(i)(A).];
8. agree to neither provide nor advertise nor
				  indicate an intent to provide customers with any incentive items, when deriving
				  or expecting to derive more than 50 percent of their annual food sales revenue
				  from WIC transactions. LA WIC shall make a determination on what constitutes a
				  violation of the meaning of the previous sentence; however, incentive items
				  definitively prohibited include, but are not necessary limited to:
a. goods and services which result in a
				  conflict of interest or the appearance of such conflict for the A-50 vendor,
				  such as assistance with applying for WIC;
b. lottery tickets at no charge or below face
				  value;
c. cash gifts in any amount
				  for any reason;
d. anything made
				  available in a public area as a complimentary gift which may be consumed or
				  taken without charge;
e. an
				  allowable incentive item provided more than once per customer per shopping
				  visit, regardless of the number of customers or WIC benefits involved, unless
				  the incentive items have been obtained by the vendor at no cost or the total
				  value of multiple incentive items provided during one shopping visit would not
				  be exceed the less-than-$2 nominal limit;
f. food, merchandise or services of greater
				  than less-than-$2 nominal value provided to the customer;
g. food, merchandise sold to customers below
				  cost, or services purchased by customers below fair market value;
h. any kind of incentive item which incurs a
				  liability for the WIC program; and
i. any kind of prohibited incentive item
				  which violates any federal, state, or local law or regulations.
9. have EBT capability;
				  and
10. in addition to the above,
				  shall adhere to any and all vendor selection criteria within the vendor rules
				  and regulations and any changes thereto. [see
				  7 CFR §
												246.12(g)(3)].