Implementation of the Dairy Donation Program (DDP) as established in the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2021 to "facilitate the timely donation of dairy products to nonprofit organizations that distribute food to persons in need and prevent and minimize food waste" will be coming soon, USDA said Tuesday.
USDA has provided an advance notice of minimum provisions to be included in the program to encourage the dairy industry to process and donate surplus milk supplies as it moves through the spring surplus milk production season.
While noting the regulations for the effort have not been published in the Federal Register, USDA laid out minimum requirements for the program that was included in law. Those minimum requirements include: 1) a donation and distribution plan must be submitted and approved by USDA; 2) the reimbursement will be at least equivalent to the minimum classified value of milk used to make the donated product on the date of manufacturing; 3) records related to donating and receiving products must be maintained and available for review and/or audit; 4) eligibility is open to dairy farmer cooperatives and processors who "account to" a Federal milk marketing order (FMMO) and donate dairy products to any private or public nonprofit food distribution entity.
The regulations for the dairy effort have also not been sent forward from USDA to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for the usual interagency review.
