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To provide technical assistance to improve infrastructure in foreign markets for United States agricultural commodities.
Summary
This bill amends the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to provide technical assistance to improve infrastructure in developing foreign markets for U.S. agricultural commodities. The Secretary would enter into contracts with trade organizations to provide needs assessments, training, and technical assistance focused on cold chain capacity, port improvements, and other infrastructure developments. The bill authorizes $1 million per fiscal year for fiscal years 2026 through 2030 for these technical assistance programs, with the goal of reducing losses of U.S. food exports due to inadequate infrastructure in foreign markets.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Sen. Banks, Jim [R-IN] (R-IN)
2 cosponsors
Actions (2)
- Mar 25, 2025 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. · senate
- Mar 25, 2025 Introduced in Senate
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 25, 2025
Mr. Banks (for himself and Mr. Fetterman) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
A BILL
To provide technical assistance to improve infrastructure in foreign markets for United States agricultural commodities.
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 “Fortifying Refrigeration Infrastructure and Developing Global Exports Act of 2025” or the “FRIDGE Act of 2025”.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) One of the largest limiting factors to growing export markets for United States food and agriculture products is insufficient infrastructure capabilities.
(2) Current trade programs are focused on promoting specific commodities or products, all of which are reliant on a functioning supply chain.
(3) There is a need for dedicated resources to focus on supply chain enhancement in developing countries to enable market expansion and diversification.
(4) Each year, billions of tons of fresh and frozen food products and millions of dollars’ worth of United States exports are lost due to poor cold chain systems in developing markets.
(5) Strengthening global infrastructure plays an important role in promoting trade, reducing food loss and waste, and improving nutrition.
SEC. 3. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO IMPROVE INFRASTRUCTURE IN FOREIGN MARKETS FOR UNITED STATES AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES.
Section 203(c) of the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 5623(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(4) Technical assistance to improve infrastructure in foreign markets for united states agricultural commodities.—
“(A) In general.—As part of the program established under this subsection, the Secretary shall enter into contracts or other agreements with eligible trade organizations to provide needs assessments, training, and other technical assistance to enhance the capabilities of infrastructure in new and developing foreign markets, including infrastructure relating to cold chain capacity, port improvements, and other developments, to ensure United States agricultural commodities are not damaged or lost due to deficiencies of such infrastructure.
“(B) Authorization of appropriations.—
“(i) In general.—There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this paragraph $1,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2026 through 2030.
“(ii) Rule of construction.—Amounts authorized to be appropriated under this subparagraph may be used only for the purposes described in subparagraph (A).
“(iii) Availability.—Amounts authorized to be appropriated under this subparagraph that are not used to carry out this paragraph are authorized to be made available to carry out the program established under this subsection.”. <all>
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