Summary
On Dec. 14, 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) published a final rule that went into effect on Feb. 12, 2024. The rule amended the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) regulations to implement the provisions of the Access to Baby Formula Act of 2022 (ABFA) and make related amendments. In reviewing the resulting changes to the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), FNS found that the final rule inadvertently omitted provisions from the CFR and contained several non-substantive errors. This document corrects those errors in the WIC regulations.
Dates
Effective on Dec. 17, 2025.
Supplementary Information
FNS published a final rule with request for comments in the Federal Register on Dec. 14, 2023 (88 FR 86545), titled Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC): Implementation of the Access to Baby Formula Act of 2022 and Related Provisions. The rule, which went into effect on Feb. 12, 2024, revised the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) regulations at 7 CFR part 246 to incorporate Access to Baby Formula Act of 2022 (ABFA; PL 117-129) provisions and to make related amendments. The rule included changes to the introductory text of § 246.16a(c)(5) to clarify terminology describing bidders for infant formula cost containment contracts. In making this change, subparagraphs (i) through (iii) of § 246.16a(c)(5) were inadvertently removed, leaving only the introductory text of § 246.16a(c)(5). This action reintroduces the inadvertently omitted provisions. Additionally, the rule introduced several non-substantive errors into the WIC regulations. This action corrects those errors by:
- Editing definitions at § 246.2 to spell out the acronym “FDA” in the definition of “recall” and to clarify phrasing in the definition of “supply chain disruption.”
- Standardizing a repeated list of program disruptions used throughout § 246.4(a)(30) and adding missing semi-colons to § 246.4(a)(30)(i)(B) and (C).
- Adding the word “transaction” to § 246.4(a)(30)(i)(F) to correct terminology. The word “redemption” is currently used incorrectly to refer to both participant transactions and vendor redemptions.
- Correcting capitalization in § 246.16a(n)(2) and § 246.29(a).
- Replacing “USDA” with “the Secretary” in § 246.29 to align with phrasing used throughout WIC regulations.
This action incorporates all the corrections listed above into the final regulations. FNS does not expect these corrections to result in any policy or process changes.