An audit of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has revealed that the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps are not including language requiring the purchase of domestic seafood nor blocking the purchase of any food that involves forced or child labor in their procurement contracts.
“The DoD Office of the Inspector General [OIG] found that contracting personnel for the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Navy Force failed to include the required clauses in three of eight contracts to restrict purchases from foreign sources and those involving forced or child labor. This lack of oversight means the Marine Corps and Navy cannot ensure full compliance with federal guidelines in seafood procurements,” the OIG said in its announcement.
However, those contracts represent just a small portion of the seafood purchased by the military, and the audit found that contracting personnel are mostly complying with federal requirements.
Despite inconsistencies within the Navy and Marine Corps contracting offices, the audit found that the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) – which handles most of the department’s food procurement – “effectively implemented federal laws prohibiting the procurement of seafood from foreign sources” and most seafood was purchased from domestic suppliers. The OIG confirmed that DLA purchased USD 277 million (EUR 237 million) worth of seafood over the last three fiscal years.
Non-DLA contracts – such as those executed by the Navy and Marine Corps – make up a much smaller share of the military’s seafood purchases. Over the last three fiscal years, the department issued only eight non-DLA contracts that included seafood, with a combined value of USD 641,791 (EUR 548,509). Of those eight contracts, the audit found three did not include the necessary language on forced and child labor and requiring domestic seafood sources.
Comparatively, DLA has issued 100 contracts involving seafood over the same time period with a combined maximum contract value of USD 15 billion (EUR 12.8 billion). OIG audited 13 of those DLA contracts with a combined value of USD 119 million (EUR 102 million) and found they ordered exclusively from U.S. suppliers.
The main law concerning foreign food products is the Berry Amendment, which requires orders valued at USD 150,000 (EUR 128,196) or more to be purchased from domestic sources. Seafood is even further restricted than other food products under the Berry Amendment. While the government can typically offer exemptions to the Berry Amendment, all seafood products must be sourced from U.S.-flagged vessels or harvested from U.S. waters, and processing must also take place in the U.S. or on a U.S.-flagged vessel.
The audit only found one instance of non-compliance with the Berry Act, wherein a prime vendor sourced seafood from Chile. U.S. officials notified the vendor of the issue, and the product was removed from distribution and replaced with a U.S.-sourced alternative.
The OIG made multiple recommendations for improving compliance with federal requirements, largely aimed at service-specific contracts.
“The DoD OIG will continue monitoring the implementation of the recommendations,” OIG said.
The arrival of a completed audit comes as U.S. lawmakers in Congress are considering multiple provisions to more completely block any foreign-sourced seafood from reaching the U.S. military.
An amendment added by U.S. Representative Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina) to the annual defense funding bill would ban exceptions to the Berry Amendment for seafood, fish, or shellfish purchases. It’s not immediately clear how big an impact the change would have on DoD seafood purchases, which are already treated more strictly than other food products under the Berry Amendment. The OIG audit reported that “seafood is specifically excluded from all exceptions to” the Berry Amendment already. Mace’s amendment was approved by the House, but it remains to be seen whether the provision will survive negotiations between the House and the Senate on the legislation.
The Senate version of the bill also includes a prohibition on the military from serving or selling Chinese seafood and aquaculture products at commissaries and military dining facilities.
