text: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
  
      This Act may be cited as the ``International Food Assistance 
  Improvement Act of 2012''.
  
  SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
  
      Congress finds the following:
              (1) For more than 55 years the United States, backed by the 
          support of the American people, has been committed to providing 
          life-saving food assistance to developing countries and 
          vulnerable populations around the world.
              (2) As the largest donor of international food assistance, 
          an essential tool in tackling malnutrition, the United States 
          can lead the way in improving food aid quality to better target 
          undernourished women and children.
              (3) The United States contributes over one-half of all food 
          aid supplies to alleviate hunger and support development and 
          plays an important role in responding to emergency food aid 
          needs and ensuring global food security.
              (4) Over the past decade, increasing food prices and 
          protracted humanitarian crises around the world have made 
          United States food assistance even more critical and relevant. 
          At the same time, these factors, combined with advancements in 
          nutrition science, as well as severe and ongoing fiscal 
          constraints, have led to an increased demand by policymakers 
          and program implementers for new specially formulated and cost-
          effective products to meet the nutritional needs of the world's 
          most vulnerable populations.
              (5) While United States food assistance is effective in 
          providing critical calories and nutrients to millions of people 
          during short-term emergencies, the long-term impacts of these 
          programs have also been increasingly called into question for 
          not meeting the nutritional needs of recipient populations.
              (6) Reducing maternal and child malnutrition, especially in 
          the critical 1,000 days between pregnancy and age 2, is a key 
          priority of United States global food security and health 
          initiatives, including food aid.
              (7) Recent reports by the Government Accountability Office 
          and the United States Agency for International Development 
          recommended over 35 changes to United States food aid products 
          and programs to improve the nutritional quality, quality 
          control, and cost effectiveness of United States food 
          assistance.
  
  SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
  
      It is the sense of Congress that--
              (1) even in this time of fiscal austerity, the American 
          people support the United States Government's historic 
          commitment to providing life-saving food assistance to the 
          world's most vulnerable populations;
              (2) high food prices, coupled with growing constraints on 
          available resources for foreign assistance require the United 
          States Government to focus on creating efficiencies, improving 
          quality controls, and maximizing cost-effectiveness and 
          nutritional impact of United States food assistance programs;
              (3) improving maternal and child health with supplemental 
          nutrition products is a central objective of international food 
          assistance programs; and
              (4) the United States has shown considerable leadership in 
          meeting the nutrition needs of pregnant women and small 
          children through the 1,000 Days Partnership to support the 
          Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) movement.
  
  SEC. 4. PROVISION OF AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES.
  
      Section 202(h) of the Food for Peace Act (7 U.S.C. 1722(h)) is 
  amended by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following:
              ``(1) In general.--The Administrator shall use funds made 
          available in fiscal year 2012 and subsequent fiscal years to 
          carry out this title to improve the nutritional quality of 
          United States food assistance, particularly for vulnerable 
          groups such as pregnant and lactating mothers, children under 
          the age of five, with a focus on the cost-effective 1,000 days 
          between pregnancy and age 2, when appropriate, and 
          beneficiaries under the President's Emergency Fund for AIDS 
          Relief in Africa (PEPFAR), including by--
                      ``(A) adopting new specifications or improving 
                  existing specifications for micronutrient fortified 
                  food aid products, based on the latest developments in 
                  food and nutrition science;
                      ``(B) strengthening necessary systems to better 
                  assess the types and quality of agricultural 
                  commodities and products donated for food assistance;
                      ``(C) adjusting products and formulations, 
                  including potential introduction of new fortificants 
                  and products, as necessary to cost effectively meet 
                  nutrient needs of target populations;
                      ``(D) testing prototypes;
                      ``(E) developing new program guidance to facilitate 
                  improved matching of products to purposes having 
                  nutritional intent, including an updated commodity 
                  reference guide and decision tools;
                      ``(F) developing enhanced guidance, in coordination 
                  with the Coordinator of United States Government 
                  Activities to Combat HIV/AIDS Globally and PEPFAR, to 
                  support the allocation of food commodities and products 
                  for nutrition support in HIV programming, using 
                  standardized indicators of impact;
                      ``(G) providing improved guidance to implementing 
                  partners on how to address nutritional deficiencies 
                  that emerge among recipients for whom food assistance 
                  is the sole source of diet in emergency programs that 
                  extend beyond one year;
                      ``(H) considering options for using United States-
                  produced food fortification packages, including vitamin 
                  and mineral mixes, to fortify local foods in recipient 
                  countries, as appropriate; and
                      ``(I) evaluating, in appropriate program settings 
                  and as necessary, the performance and cost-
                  effectiveness of new or modified specialized food 
                  products and program approaches designed to meet the 
                  nutritional needs of the most vulnerable groups.''.
  
  SEC. 5. FOOD AID CONSULTATIVE GROUP.
  
      (a) Membership.--Section 205(b) of the Food for Peace Act (7 U.S.C. 
  1725(b)) is amended--
              (1) in paragraph (6), by striking ``and'' at the end;
              (2) in paragraph (7), by striking the period and inserting 
          ``; and''; and
              (3) by adding at the end the following:
              ``(8) nutrition science experts from academia and 
          nongovernmental organizations.''.
      (b) Coordination and Oversight.--Section 205 of the Food for Peace 
  Act (7 U.S.C. 1725) is amended--
              (1) by redesignating subsections (d), (e), and (f) as 
          subsections (e), (f), and (g), respectively; and
              (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the following:
      ``(d) Coordination and Oversight.--
              ``(1) In general.--The Administrator shall work within the 
          Group to take the actions described in paragraph (2) to 
          increase coordination and oversight of food assistance programs 
          established and implemented under this Act, with a primary 
          focus on improving quality control and cost effectiveness.
              ``(2) Actions described.--The actions referred to in 
          paragraph (1) are the following:
                      ``(A) Explore and test options for improved 
                  packaging and storage of products to improve shelf 
                  life, promote recommended usage by intended 
                  beneficiaries, and oversee field-testing of products.
                      ``(B) Work closely with the Department of 
                  Agriculture, to undertake reforms in commodity 
                  acquisition and supply chain management, drawing on 
                  best commercial practices for vendor selection, quality 
                  assurance standards, overall management of the supply 
                  chain, and auditing of food aid commodity suppliers.
                      ``(C) Develop mechanisms and partnerships to 
                  facilitate more private sector development and 
                  innovation in food aid products, packaging, and 
                  delivery in order to improve the cost-effectiveness, 
                  nutritional quality, and overall acceptability of the 
                  product.
                      ``(D) Provide guidance to implementing partners on 
                  whether and how best to use food aid commodities, such 
                  as new specialized food products, including guidance on 
                  targeting strategies to ensure that the products reach 
                  their intended recipients.
                      ``(E) As appropriate, work to strengthen monitoring 
                  of commodity quality by identifying and tracking key 
                  quality indicators to determine the full extent of 
                  quality problems, including emerging concerns.
                      ``(F) Establish processes and system-wide protocols 
                  for effective monitoring and evaluation of impact, to 
                  inform improved program design and address improving 
                  cost-effectiveness.''.
  
  SEC. 6. STRATEGY AND REPORT.
  
      (a) Strategy.--The Administrator shall ensure that any United 
  States Government strategy relating to global food security includes a 
  description of how food assistance programs carried out under the Food 
  for Peace Act will contribute to, and be integrated with, such 
  strategy.
      (b) Report.--The Administrator shall ensure that comprehensive 
  information regarding budgets and expenditures, monitoring and 
  evaluation, policy, and coordination of food assistance programs 
  carried out under the Food for Peace Act is included, as appropriate, 
  in relevant reports submitted to Congress pursuant to the Foreign 
  Assistance Act of 1961 and Acts making appropriations for the 
  Department of State, foreign operations, and related programs.
  
  SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.
  
      In this Act:
              (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
          Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
          Development.
              (2) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
          ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                      (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 
                  Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
                  Representatives; and
                      (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the 
                  Committee on Appropriations of the Senate.
  
  SEC. 8. FUNDING.
  
      Nothing in this Act or any amendment made by this Act shall be 
  construed to authorize the appropriation of amounts to carry out this 
  Act or any amendment made by this Act.
target: International Food Assistance Improvement Act of 2012 - Amends the Food for Peace Act to direct the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to: (1) improve the nutritional quality of U.S. food assistance, particularly for groups such as pregnant and lactating mothers, children under the age of five, and beneficiaries under the President's Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief in Africa; and (2) work within the Food Aid Consultative Group to increase coordination and oversight of food assistance programs.
feat_title: To direct the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development to take appropriate actions to improve the nutritional quality, quality control, and cost effectiveness of United States food assistance, and for other purposes.