USDA Answers SNAP-Related Questions

New document indicates Department of Agriculture plans to propose rules this year implementing point-of-sale and depth-of-stock provisions.

May 22, 2014

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Agriculture released a frequently asked questions document this week regarding its implementation of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provisions in the recently-enacted Farm Bill. 

Those provisions impose additional obligations on retailers that redeem SNAP benefits, including new technological mandates and depth-of-stock requirements. (See March 2014 Summary of Relevant Provisions for SNAP retailers.)  In addition to those obligations, under the new law, retailers participating in SNAP will no longer be offered free Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) equipment, supplies and related services. (See May 2014 Farm Bill – SNAP Purchases With EBT.)

The FAQ document released this week indicates that the Department of Agriculture plans on proposing rules implementing the point-of-sale provisions and the depth-of-stock provisions in calendar year 2014. Those rules will not take effect until they are finalized.  As a practical matter, this means that those provisions will not be enforced until later this year or, more likely, 2015.  The FAQ document also contains a fairly substantial discussion on the Farm Bill’s provisions prohibiting retailers from being offered free EBT equipment.

For more information on these issues, please visit NACS’s SNAP webpage here.

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