Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024
A. As outlined in 7 CFR part 246, LA WIC has
the responsibility to maximize the use of available funds by providing
WIC-approved food items to WIC participants at the most reasonable prices and
to have an agreement with enough vendors to ensure adequate participant access.
LA WIC reserves the right to implement limiting criteria on vendors statewide
in order to meet this responsibility. If LA WIC elects to implement such
limiting criteria, the criteria shall be made available and applied
consistently.
B. WIC federal
regulations at 7 CFR §
246.12 mandate that state WIC agencies must
develop and implement selection criteria to select only qualified vendors to
provide WIC-approved food items to WIC participants. Specific vendor selection
criteria must be addressed while allowing WIC state agencies to identify
additional vendor selection criteria to further enhance services to WIC
participants.
C. LA WIC has
established vendor selection criteria in conjunction with and with approval
from the USDA. The vendor selection criteria are published within this Subpart
and in the vendor rules and regulations.
D. In order to be eligible to participate in
LA WIC, the vendor applicant, including any of the vendor applicant's current
owners, officers, or managers and/or vendors shall:
1. stock and maintain sufficient quantities
and varieties of all WIC approved food items in accordance with LA WIC's
minimum stock requirements (MSR). See
7 CFR §
246.12(g)(3)(i);
2. not have been convicted of or had a civil
judgment entered against them for any activity indicating a lack of business
integrity during the last six years. Activities indicating a lack of business
integrity include fraud, antitrust violations, embezzlement, theft, forgery,
bribery, falsification or destruction of records, making false statements,
receiving stolen property, making false claims, and obstruction of justice [see
7 CFR §
246.12(g)(3)(ii)];
3. not be currently disqualified from SNAP or
have been assessed a SNAP Civil Money Penalty (CMP) for hardship and the
disqualification period that would have otherwise been imposed has not expired.
[see 7 CFR §
246.12(g)(3)(iii)];
4. have prices that are competitive with
other vendors in LA WIC's designated peer group, as determined by the LA WIC's
competitive price criteria (CPC). All vendors are subject to CPC at all times
to ensure cost containment. Applying vendors, whose prices are higher than the
CPC applicable to their peer groups, shall be informed and given one
opportunity to lower their prices to meet the CPC. [see
7 CFR §
246.12(g)(4)];
5. purchase infant formula only from vendors
included on LA WIC's list of infant formula manufacturers registered with the
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that provide infant formula, and licensed
infant formula wholesalers, distributors, and retailers. This list can be found
on the LA WIC website at ldh.la.gov/wicvendor;
6. not derive or expect to derive more than
50 percent of annual food sales revenue from WIC transactions. [see
7 CFR §
246.12(g)(4)(i).];
7. agree to be placed in a vendor peer group
with other above-50-percent (A-50) vendors when deriving or expecting to derive
more than 50 percent of their annual food sales revenue from WIC transactions.
Vendors within this peer group shall maintain WIC approved food item prices at
a level such that the average payments for A-50 vendors does not exceed average
payments to regular vendors; [see
7 CFR §
246.12(g)(4)(i)(A).];
8. agree to neither provide nor advertise nor
indicate an intent to provide customers with any incentive items, when deriving
or expecting to derive more than 50 percent of their annual food sales revenue
from WIC transactions. LA WIC shall make a determination on what constitutes a
violation of the meaning of the previous sentence; however, incentive items
definitively prohibited include, but are not necessary limited to:
a. goods and services which result in a
conflict of interest or the appearance of such conflict for the A-50 vendor,
such as assistance with applying for WIC;
b. lottery tickets at no charge or below face
value;
c. cash gifts in any amount
for any reason;
d. anything made
available in a public area as a complimentary gift which may be consumed or
taken without charge;
e. an
allowable incentive item provided more than once per customer per shopping
visit, regardless of the number of customers or WIC benefits involved, unless
the incentive items have been obtained by the vendor at no cost or the total
value of multiple incentive items provided during one shopping visit would not
be exceed the less-than-$2 nominal limit;
f. food, merchandise or services of greater
than less-than-$2 nominal value provided to the customer;
g. food, merchandise sold to customers below
cost, or services purchased by customers below fair market value;
h. any kind of incentive item which incurs a
liability for the WIC program; and
i. any kind of prohibited incentive item
which violates any federal, state, or local law or regulations.
9. have EBT capability;
and
10. in addition to the above,
shall adhere to any and all vendor selection criteria within the vendor rules
and regulations and any changes thereto. [see
7 CFR §
246.12(g)(3)].
E. WIC federal regulations at
7 CFR §
246.12(g)(3) mandate that LA
WIC shall not authorize a vendor applicant if LA WIC determines the store has
been sold by its previous owner in an attempt to circumvent a WIC
sanction.
F. After WIC
authorization, all vendors shall continue to meet the criteria of this Section
and vendor rules and regulations, and any changes thereto, at all times. A
vendor found to be out of compliance with vendor rules and regulations any time
during the authorization period is subject to termination of WIC authorization
and the vendor agreement and possible disqualification.
G. WIC federal regulations at
7 CFR §
246.12(g)(8) allow LA WIC to
establish timeframes for accepting and processing the vendor application,
outside of which LA WIC may deny authorization. Such timeframes are stated in
the vendor guide and policy manual.
AUTHORITY
NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with
R.S.
46:972.
