The attached memorandum of questions and answers, issued jointly by the Food and Nutrition Service headquarters, food distribution and child nutrition divisions, clarifies the use of SAE funds, both as initially allocated and when reallocated, for administrative and other expenses incurred in the food distribution program.
The purpose of this memorandum is to advise you of a new and revised requirement for all Receiving Organizations (i.e., organizations that receive shipments of Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foods, including Distributing Agencies, Indian Tribal Organizations (ITO), recipient agencies, processors, and warehouses). This memorandum replaces the previous FD-062 dated April 25, 2011 , and adjusts the maximum timeframe for entering shipment receipts in the Web-Based Supply Chain Management System.
On March 26, 2013, the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act 2013 was signed into law, which provides $49.401 million for TEFAP administrative funding through Sept. 30, 2013.
USDA Food and Nutrition Service policy memo SP 26-2013, "Extending Flexibility in the Meat/Meat Alternate and Grains Maximums for School Year 2013-14" extends the flexibility regarding Meat/Meat Alternate (M/MA) maximums for SY 2013-13, allowing state agencies to assess compliance based on the minimum daily and weekly serving requirements only.
On Jan. 29, 201 3, President Barack Obama signed the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act 2013, providing TEFAP with $6 million in supplemental funding. The Act gives the Secretary authority to provide these funds to the States affected by Hurricane Sandy without regard to the formula normally used to allocate TEFAP entitlement foods and administrative funding among the States. In addition, the Act also gives the Secretary authority to provide the supplemental funding as USDA Foods, administrative funds, or both.
State agencies must exercise diligence to ensure that TEFAP food inventories are managed effectively, efficiently, and without waste. The purpose of this policy memorandum is to provide state agencies with the direction and guidance necessary in maintaining proper inventory levels of USDA Foods for TEFAP, including the estimation of monthly utilization rates for new or bonus USDA Foods for which there are no historical usage records.
Three pieces of legislation currently govern the level of food and administrative resources available to TEFAP in FY 2013: the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008; the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983; and the Continuing Appropriations Resolution 2013 which provides funding in FY 2013 at a pro rata share of the FY 2012 funding level through March 27, 2013.