The State Department is allowing the shipping and distribution of food aid to resume, Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., announced Saturday.
Some $560 million worth of commodities had been stalled in ports around the world, including $340 million in the United States. The State Department freed up the commodities by issuing notices to aid organizations, according to Moran's staff.
In a post on X, thanking Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Moran said, “GOOD NEWS: State Dept. has approved shipping to resume, allowing NGOs to distribute the $560 million of American-grown food aid sitting in US & global ports to those in need. Thanks to @SecRubio for helping make certain this life-saving aid gets to those in need before it spoils.”
According to a wheat industry source, the stalled commodities include some 235 million metric tons of wheat worth $65 million.
Food aid, malnutrition treatment and medical care have been among the casualties of the Trump administration’s rapid shutdown of the U.S. Agency for International Development.
It’s easy to be “in the know” about what’s happening in Washington, D.C. Sign up for a FREE month of Agri-Pulse news! Simply click here
Although Rubio had said emergency food assistance could continue despite a stop-work order, experts said the gutting of USAID’s staff by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency initiative had left the agency without the capacity to manage the commodities and to approve waivers to the stop-work order.
On Tuesday, Rubio blamed the organizations themselves for the confusion, suggesting that any groups who couldn't secure waivers were incompetent.
The State Department provided no comment on the issue.
For more news, go to: www.Agri-Pulse.com
