Last week, USDA Under Secretary of Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services Kevin Concannon announced the agency’s intent to publish a Proposed Rule in the Federal Register to impose new sanctions, including new civil penalties, modifying penalties for sales of ineligible items, and new fines for transactions without the presence of an EBT card.
While not highlighted in USDA’s press statements, the proposed rule would also require retailers to use point-of-sale equipment that provides a “unique terminal identification to the EBT system.” The proposed rule does not provide details or a timeline for when such a terminal I.D. system would need to be in place.
FMI had been working with the FMI EPS Committee to provide feedback to the Hill on this issue when it was considered in the Farm Bill, although without any details outlined in this proposal, it is unclear how many of FMI’s suggestions would be incorporated.
In the same media briefing, Concannon announced a new final rule requiring states to follow prisoner verification and death-matching procedures of individual SNAP recipients.
The proposed rule will provide a 60-day comment period, which would be approximately October 12, depending on when it is published in the Federal Register. View the preliminary proposed rule. Read the USDA press release.
