USDA alters requirements for food vendor approval

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has simplified the process for USDA food vendor approval by eliminating a participation barrier, it announced.

The Agricultural Marketing Service’s Commodity Procurement Program (CPP) has altered its financial assessment responsibility for interested suppliers to the USDA in order to reduce barriers to the program, the USDA said. 

“Due to the cost and time involved, the requirement to provide certified financial statements has long been a barrier keeping both small and large businesses from participating with USDA as approved vendors,” USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Jenny Lester Moffitt said in a press release. 

To streamline new vendor processes and increase participation, CPP removed the requirement for vendors to provide audited or review financial statements more efficiently. As an alternative, CPP will obtain a Contractor Responsibility Assessment Report (CRA) from FedDataCheck. 

“As part of creating more and better markets, USDA is working to remove prohibitive barriers like this and enable more market opportunities and more profit for American producers," Moffitt said. "This new process is one more instance of USDA transforming America’s food system by promoting competition and fairer markets for all producers.”

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