II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 1119
To provide technical assistance to improve infrastructure in foreign markets
for United States agricultural commodities.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH25, 2025
Mr. B
ANKS(for himself and Mr. FETTERMAN) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nu-
trition, and Forestry
A BILL
To provide technical assistance to improve infrastructure in
foreign markets for United States agricultural commodities.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fortifying Refrigera-4
tion Infrastructure and Developing Global Exports Act of 5
2025’’ or the ‘‘FRIDGE Act of 2025’’. 6
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 7
Congress finds the following: 8
(1) One of the largest limiting factors to grow-9
ing export markets for United States food and agri-10
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•S 1119 IS
culture products is insufficient infrastructure capa-1
bilities. 2
(2) Current trade programs are focused on pro-3
moting specific commodities or products, all of which 4
are reliant on a functioning supply chain. 5
(3) There is a need for dedicated resources to 6
focus on supply chain enhancement in developing 7
countries to enable market expansion and diver-8
sification. 9
(4) Each year, billions of tons of fresh and fro-10
zen food products and millions of dollars’ worth of 11
United States exports are lost due to poor cold chain 12
systems in developing markets. 13
(5) Strengthening global infrastructure plays an 14
important role in promoting trade, reducing food 15
loss and waste, and improving nutrition. 16
SEC. 3. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO IMPROVE INFRA-17
STRUCTURE IN FOREIGN MARKETS FOR 18
UNITED STATES AGRICULTURAL COMMOD-19
ITIES. 20
Section 203(c) of the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 21
(7 U.S.C. 5623(c)) is amended by adding at the end the 22
following: 23
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‘‘(4) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO IMPROVE IN -1
FRASTRUCTURE IN FOREIGN MARKETS FOR UNITED 2
STATES AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES .— 3
‘‘(A) I
N GENERAL.—As part of the pro-4
gram established under this subsection, the Sec-5
retary shall enter into contracts or other agree-6
ments with eligible trade organizations to pro-7
vide needs assessments, training, and other 8
technical assistance to enhance the capabilities 9
of infrastructure in new and developing foreign 10
markets, including infrastructure relating to 11
cold chain capacity, port improvements, and 12
other developments, to ensure United States ag-13
ricultural commodities are not damaged or lost 14
due to deficiencies of such infrastructure. 15
‘‘(B) A
UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA -16
TIONS.— 17
‘‘(i) I
N GENERAL.—There is author-18
ized to be appropriated to carry out this 19
paragraph $1,000,000 for each of the fis-20
cal years 2026 through 2030. 21
‘‘(ii) R
ULE OF CONSTRUCTION .— 22
Amounts authorized to be appropriated 23
under this subparagraph may be used only 24
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for the purposes described in subparagraph 1
(A). 2
‘‘(iii) A
VAILABILITY.—Amounts au-3
thorized to be appropriated under this sub-4
paragraph that are not used to carry out 5
this paragraph are authorized to be made 6
available to carry out the program estab-7
lished under this subsection.’’. 8
Æ
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