Agriculture shippers want food aid exempt from HUBZone program

Agriculture shippers want food aid exempt from HUBZone program    A dozen large agriculture shipper groups have asked members of the House Agricultural Committee to use their jurisdiction to exempt food-aid from a small businesses contracting bill.
   In a recent letter to the committee, the shippers said they had “serious reservations” about food-aid language for so-called Historically Underutilized Business Zones, or HUBZones, in the proposed 2003 Small Business and Manufacturing Revitalization Act (H.R. 2802).
   The HUBZone Empowerment Contracting Program, initiated in 1997, is managed by the Small Business Administration. The program’s intended purpose is to create jobs by providing federal contracting opportunities to qualified small businesses located in certain economically distressed areas.
   The United States supplies food aid to one out of 10 persons in need around the world. According the United Nations, there are about 800 million undernourished people worldwide.
   “While the United States generously donates half the food to these malnourished persons, we believe the overall bleak picture clearly points out the need to get better bang for the buck from the fixed dollars appropriated to our food aid programs,” the industry letter said. “The provisions in H.R. 2802 run counter to this goal.”
   The industry groups pointed out that allowing the HUBZone small business preferences to stay in H.R. 2802 would reduce the amount of food delivered to malnourished populations by up to 10 percent; shuffle jobs from one community to another; and “open a door to abuse by allowing brokers to sell to the government at a marked up price, but no added value.”
   “Key to maintaining integrity and public support is requiring companies selling food aid to the government to actually be in the business of handling and processing the commodities involved,” the industry groups’ letter said. “Broker participation would serve only to skim limited funds from critical food needs and create no jobs.”
   The industry groups that signed the letter include the Agricultural Cooperative Development International/Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance, American Soybean Association, Coalition for Food Aid, Counterpart International, International Orthodox Christian Charities, North American Export Grain Association, North American Millers’ Association, National Dry Bean Council, National Oilseed Processors Association, National Association of Wheat Growers, USA Rice Federation, and Wheat Export Trade Education Committee.