Approval of retail food stores and wholesale food concerns

(a) Definition of retail food store Section 3(o)(1) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012(o)(1)) is amended, in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking sells food and inserting owns food inventory and sells that food. (b) Additional requirements for participation of retail food stores Section 9 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2018) is amended— (1) in subsection (a)— (A) in paragraph (2)— (i) by striking (2) The Secretary and inserting the following: (2) Regulations The Secretary; and (ii) by indenting the margins of subparagraphs (A) and (B) appropriately; and (B) by indenting the margin of paragraph (3) appropriately; (2) in subsection (c), in the third sentence, by inserting (42 U.S.C. 1786) after Act of 1966; and (3) by striking subsection (f) and inserting the following: (f) Additional requirements for participation (1) House-to-house trade routes, online-only entities (A) In general The Secretary shall limit participation in the supplemental nutrition assistance program of house-to-house trade routes and entities that operate solely online (referred to in this paragraph as online-only entities) to include only such routes and online-only entities that support the purposes of the supplemental nutrition assistance program. (B) Terms and conditions The Secretary shall establish terms and conditions for participation of house-to-house trade routes and online-only entities in the supplemental nutrition assistance program, which shall include, at a minimum— (i) a requirement to be fully operational with respect to sales to the public for not less than 1 year before receiving authorization under this section, including, for online-only entities, operation in e-commerce for not less than that 1-year period; (ii) a requirement to provide to the Secretary, on request— (I) documentation to establish inventory ownership, such as business records; and (II) evidence of sufficient and consistent minimum inventory levels, such as business records, inventory storage facility visit reports, and other means, including, for online-only entities, documentation matching owned inventory with online offerings, as the Secretary determines to be sufficient to qualify continuously as a retail food store; and (iii) a requirement to demonstrate sales consistent with inventory, as determined by the Secretary, for not less than 1 year before receiving authorization under this section and periodically thereafter, as the Secretary determines to be appropriate. (2) Entities without inventory An entity (including a product aggregator) that does not qualify as a retail food store described in section 3(o)(1) because the entity does not own food inventory may not participate in the supplemental nutrition assistance program. (3) Third-party entities and inventory (A) Retailers An entity that is not an approved retail food store may not offer food for sale in exchange for benefits through an approved retail food store. (B) Inventory An approved retail food store may not offer inventory for sale in exchange for benefits if that inventory is owned by an entity that is not an approved retail food store..