Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Local Procurement Act”.
Local Procurement Act
A BILL
To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to establish certain requirements for meat, poultry, fruit, and vegetable purchases by the Department of Agriculture, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Requirements for meat, poultry, fruit, and vegetable purchases by Department of Agriculture
Clerical amendments—
Short title— The Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 is amended, in the undesignated matter preceding subtitle A (7 U.S.C. 1621 et seq.), by striking “This title” and inserting the following:
“200. Short title
“This title”
Declaration of policy— Section 202 of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1621) is amended by striking the section designation and all that follows through “hereby declares” in the first sentence and inserting the following:
“201. Declaration of policy
“Congress declares”
Duties of Secretary relating to agricultural products— Section 203 of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1622) is amended by striking the section designation and all that follows through “Agriculture is directed” in the matter preceding subsection (a) and inserting the following:
“202. Requirements for meat, poultry, fruit, and vegetable purchases by Department of Agriculture
“(a) Meat and poultry—Notwithstanding any other provision of law (including regulations), effective beginning on the date of enactment of the Local Procurement Act, in purchasing any meat or poultry agricultural product pursuant to a purchasing authority of the Department of Agriculture, the Secretary of Agriculture (referred to in this Act as the Secretary) shall, to the maximum extent practicable, purchase such an agricultural product that bears a “Product of USA” or “Made in the USA” label, as described in the final rule of the Food Safety and Inspection Service entitled “Voluntary Labeling of FSIS-Regulated Products With U.S.-Origin Claims” (89 Fed. Reg. 19470 (March 18, 2024)).
“(b) Fruits and vegetables—Notwithstanding any other provision of law (including regulations), effective beginning on the date of enactment of the Local Procurement Act, in purchasing any fruit or vegetable agricultural product pursuant to a purchasing authority of the Department of Agriculture, the Secretary shall, to the maximum extent practicable, purchase such an agricultural product that is grown in—
“(1) the State in which the agricultural product will be delivered; or
“(2) a State adjacent to the State described in paragraph (1).
“(c) Contract awards
“(1) Selection criteria—In entering into contracts for the purchase of any meat, poultry, fruit, or vegetable agricultural product, the Secretary shall establish and utilize selection criteria for consideration of whether a contract proposal offers the Federal Government the overall best value, without limiting evaluation factors to—
“(A) lowest price; or
“(B) highest technical rating.
“(2) Priority—In entering into contracts for the purchase of any meat, poultry, fruit, or vegetable agricultural product, the Secretary shall give priority to purchasing from vendors that source meat, poultry, fruit, or vegetable agricultural products, as applicable, from small and mid-sized farms.
“203. Duties of Secretary relating to agricultural products
“The Secretary is directed”