[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2570 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2570

   To amend the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 to provide technical 
  assistance to improve infrastructure in foreign markets for United 
                    States agricultural commodities.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 27, 2023

  Mr. Braun (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 amend the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 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 2023'' or the 
``FRIDGE Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) 1 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; and
            (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 assessment, 
                training, and other technical assistance--
                            ``(i) to enhance the capabilities of 
                        infrastructure in new and developing foreign 
                        markets, including infrastructure relating to 
                        cold chain capacity, port improvements, and 
                        other developments; and
                            ``(ii) to ensure United States agricultural 
                        commodities are not damaged or lost due to 
                        deficiencies in the infrastructure described in 
                        clause (i).
                    ``(B) Authorization of appropriations.--
                            ``(i) In general.--There is authorized to 
                        be appropriated to carry out this paragraph 
                        $1,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 
                        through 2028.
                            ``(ii) Rule of construction.--Except as 
                        provided in clause (iii), amounts authorized to 
                        be appropriated under this subparagraph may be 
                        used only to carry out subparagraph (A).
                            ``(iii) Availability.--Amounts authorized 
                        to be appropriated under this subparagraph that 
                        are not used to carry out subparagraph (A) may 
                        be used to carry out the program established 
                        under this subsection.''.
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