Sec. 12513. Promotion of food and agricultural workplace accountability
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Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall— require any entity that enters into a contract with the Department of Agriculture to represent, on an annual basis and to the best of the knowledge of the entity, whether, within the preceding 3-year period, any final administrative merits determination, arbitral award or decision, or civil judgment, as defined in coordination with the Secretary of Labor, has been issued against the entity for any violation of section 12 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 ( 29 U.S.C. 212 ), relating to child labor; require that an offeror with respect to a contract with the Department of Agriculture— certify, to the best of the knowledge of the entity, whether, within the preceding 3-year period, any final administrative merits determination, arbitral award or decision, or civil judgment, as defined by the Secretary in coordination with the Secretary of Labor, for a violation described in paragraph
(1)has been issued against the entity; and require such a certification from each of the subcontractors or service providers to be used in performing, or that were considered for the performance of, the contract for which the offeror is submitting an offer and provide such certifications with the certification by the offeror under subparagraph (A); prohibit the Department of Agriculture from awarding a contract to— an entity that provides an affirmative response to a representation under paragraph
(1)and has failed to implement any corrective measure negotiated under subsection (b); or an offeror that— provides an affirmative response to a certification under paragraph
(2)and has failed to implement any corrective measure negotiated under subsection (b); or intends to use a subcontractor or service provider in the performance of the contract that was identified as having violations in such an affirmative response and has failed to implement any corrective measure negotiated under such subsection; require the name and address of each entity that provides an affirmative response to a representation under paragraph (1), and the name and address of each offeror, subcontractor, or service provider identified as having violations in an affirmative response to a certification under paragraph (2), to be referred to the Secretary of Labor for purposes of negotiating with that entity, offeror, subcontractor, or service provider on corrective measures under subsection
(b)and preparing the list and conducting suspension and debarment proceedings under subsection (c); and coordinate with the Secretary of Labor to provide procedures for consultation with the Secretary of Labor by an offeror described in paragraph
(2)to assist the offeror in evaluating the information on compliance with section 12 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 ( 29 U.S.C. 212 ), relating to child labor, submitted to the offeror by a subcontractor or service provider pursuant to such paragraph. An entity that makes an affirmative response to a representation under subsection (a)(1) or offeror, subcontractor, or service provider that makes an affirmative response in a certification under subsection (a)(2)— shall update the representation or certification, respectively, based on any steps taken by the entity, offeror, subcontractor, or service provider to correct violations of or improve compliance with section 12 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 ( 29 U.S.C. 212 ), relating to child labor, including any agreements entered into with the Secretary of Labor; and may negotiate with the Secretary of Labor regarding corrective measures that the entity, offeror, subcontractor, or service provider may take in order to avoid being placed on the list under subsection
(c)and referred for suspension and debarment proceedings under such subsection, in the case the entity, offeror, subcontractor, or service provider meets the criteria for such list and proceedings under such subsection. For each calendar year beginning with the first calendar year that begins after the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor, in coordination with the Secretary as necessary, shall prepare a list and conduct suspension and debarment proceedings for— each entity that provided an affirmative response to a representation under subsection (a)(1) and has failed to implement any corrective measure negotiated under subsection
(b)for the year of the list; and each offeror, subcontractor, or service provider that was identified as having violations in an affirmative response to a certification under subsection (a)(2) and has failed to implement any corrective measure negotiated under subsection
(b)for the year of the list. The Secretary shall not, during the period of time described in subparagraph (B), solicit offers from, award contracts to, or consent to subcontracts with any entity, offeror, subcontractor, or service provider that is listed— under paragraph (1); and as an active exclusion in the System for Award Management. The period of time described in this subparagraph is a period of time determined by the suspension and debarment official that is not less than 4 years from the date on which the entity, offeror, subcontractor, or service provider is listed as an exclusion in the System for Award Management. In determining the entities to consider for suspension and debarment proceedings under paragraph (1), the Secretary of Labor shall ensure procedures for such determination are consistent with the procedures set forth in subpart 9.4 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation for the suspension and debarment of Federal contractors. It shall be unlawful for a person to knowingly fail to make a representation or certification required under paragraph
(1)or (2), respectively, of subsection (a). A violation of paragraph
(1)shall be referred by the Secretary for suspension and debarment proceedings, to be conducted by the suspension and debarment official of the Department of Labor. A violation of paragraph
(1)shall be subject to the penalties under sections 3729 through 3733 of title 31, United States Code (commonly known as the False Claims Act ). For each calendar year beginning with the first calendar year that begins after the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in coordination with the Secretary of Labor, shall make publicly available on a public website a report that includes— the number of entities, offerors, subcontractors, or service providers on the list under subsection
(c)for the year of the report; the number of entities, offerors, subcontractors, or service providers that agreed to take corrective measures under subsection
(b)for such year; the amount of the applicable contracts with the Department of Agriculture for the entities, offerors, subcontractors, or service providers described in paragraph
(1)or (2); and an assessment of the effectiveness of the implementation of this section for such year. Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall— conduct a study on the prevalence of violations of section 12 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 ( 29 U.S.C. 212 ), relating to child labor, among entities that have entered into contracts with the Department of Agriculture; and submit a report containing the findings of the study conducted under paragraph
(1)to— the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate; the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives; and the Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the House of Representatives.
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Sec. 12513
Promotion of food and agricultural workplace accountability
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