Historical Apoplexy · State Legislative Adaptations · Poland
Poland Food, Resource, and Commodity Assurance Act
A Westminster-Parliament adaptation of the Historical Apoplexy framework
SEJM RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ
Kadencja X / 10th Term
Sesja 2026
POSELSKI PROJEKT USTAWY
BILL FROM DEPUTIES
PRZEZ ________ (Wniesiony w imieniu wnioskodawców /
introduced on behalf of the petitioners)
DOTYCZĄCY USTANOWIENIA PROGRAMU ZAPEWNIENIA ŻYWNOŚCI, ZASOBÓW I TOWARÓW PODSTAWOWYCH, USTANOWIENIA PROGRAMU RÓWNOŚCI ZDROWOTNEJ, ORAZ MODERNIZACJI POLSKIEGO SYSTEMU EDUKACYJNEGO; ORAZ W TYM ZAKRESIE DOKONANIA STOSOWNYCH ZMIAN W USTAWIE O ŚWIADCZENIACH RODZINNYCH ORAZ INNYCH AKTACH PRAWNYCH
CONCERNING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAMMES FOR FOOD, RESOURCE, AND COMMODITY ASSURANCE, FOR PUBLIC HEALTH EQUITY, AND FOR EDUCATION MODERNISATION, AND, IN CONNECTION THEREWITH, MAKING APPROPRIATIONS AND PROVISIONS FOR ADMINISTRATION
USTAWA / A BILL
LONG TITLE / TYTUŁ
USTAWA O ZAPEWNIENIU ŻYWNOŚCI, ZASOBÓW I TOWARÓW PODSTAWOWYCH RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ
AN ACT to make provision for the establishment of the Polish Food, Resource, and Commodity Assurance Programme; to make provision for at-cost food distribution through state-coordinated and consumer- cooperative-operated assurance centres on the Społem (1869) and Centralny Okręg Przemysłowy (1936-1939) tradition; to make provision for the supply of essential goods at below-retail pricing on the Defense Commissary Agency operational model; to declare food insecurity, poverty, and hierarchical social position as public health conditions consistent with the Marmot Whitehall finding and the Polish constitutional commitment under Article 68 to equal access to health services; to extend universal child supports under the 800+ Family programme to commodity-form distribution where the beneficiary household elects in-kind alongside or in lieu of the cash dividend; to extend the conceptual framework of the K-25 pipeline to the Polish education system and to integrate the Vitruvian Quotient framework as an enhancement layer; to coordinate with the Recovery and Resilience Plan (KPO) funding envelope without displacing existing KPO investment lines; to amend the relevant provisions of the Act of 11 February 2016 on State Aid for the Upbringing of Children (Ustawa z dnia 11 lutego 2016 r. o pomocy państwa w wychowywaniu dzieci) and other Polish enactments as needful; and to provide for connected purposes.
LEGISLATIVE ROUTING NOTE
This Bill is a Poselski Projekt Ustawy (Deputies' Bill) for introduction in the Sejm of the Republic of Poland during the 10th Term, 2026 Session. The Polish legislative-initiative framework under Article 118 §2 of the Constitution permits citizen initiative of a Bill on the petition of at least 100,000 Polish citizens enjoying the right to vote; this Act may also be advanced through that citizen- initiative channel.
The Sejm referral procedure following First Reading would normally include referral to:
- Komisja Polityki Społecznej i Rodziny (Committee on Social Policy and Family) — lead committee for the welfare and child-supports provisions - Komisja Finansów Publicznych (Committee on Public Finance) — for the fiscal provisions and KPO-coordination provisions - Komisja Rolnictwa i Rozwoju Wsi (Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development) — for the food-distribution provisions - Komisja Edukacji, Nauki i Młodzieży (Committee on Education, Science, and Youth) — for the education-modernisation provisions - Komisja Zdrowia (Committee on Health) — for the public-health- equity provisions - Komisja Samorządu Terytorialnego i Polityki Regionalnej (Committee on Local Government and Regional Policy) — for the voivodeship coordination provisions
Following Sejm passage the Bill goes to the Senate (Senat); the Senate may pass, amend, or reject; the Sejm may override Senate rejection by absolute majority. The President of the Republic signs the Act into force.
DIVISION I — FOOD ASSURANCE
ARTICLE 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE POLISH FOOD, RESOURCE, AND COMMODITY ASSURANCE PROGRAMME.
(1) There is hereby established the Polish Food, Resource, and
Commodity Assurance Programme (Program Zapewnienia Żywności,
Zasobów i Towarów Podstawowych, "PZŻ"), administered by the
Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy (Ministerstwo
Rodziny, Pracy i Polityki Społecznej) in coordination with the
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Ministerstwo
Rolnictwa i Rozwoju Wsi), the Ministry of Finance, and the
Marshals of the sixteen voivodeships.
(2) The PZŻ shall operate Polish Food Assurance Centres (Polskie
Centra Zapewnienia Żywności, "PCZŻ") in every voivodeship,
delivering at-cost distribution of basic-needs food and
essential goods on the operational model of:
(a) The United States Defense Commissary Agency (10 USC 2484),
operating at-cost food distribution since 1867;
(b) The Polish cooperative consumer-society tradition embodied
in PSS Społem (Powszechna Spółdzielnia Spożywców), founded
1869 and operating continuously through partitions, two
world wars, the communist period, and the post-1989
transition;
(c) The military commissary infrastructure already operating
for Polish service families.
ARTICLE 2. ENTITLEMENT TO PARTICIPATE.
(1) Every Polish citizen ordinarily resident in the Republic of
Poland, identified by PESEL number, is automatically entitled
to participate in the PZŻ.
(2) Foreign citizens ordinarily resident in the Republic of Poland
who hold a PESEL number, including holders of Karta Polaka and
residents granted Karta Pobytu, are likewise entitled.
(3) Participation is voluntary. No citizen is required to obtain
goods through the PZŻ; the existing commercial retail market
continues to operate unaffected.
ARTICLE 3. PROGRAMME GOODS AND AT-COST PRICING.
(1) PCZŻ outlets shall offer for distribution at production cost
plus reasonable distribution allowance:
(a) Non-perishable food (rice, kasze [grains], pulses, canned
proteins, canned vegetables and fruits, baking supplies,
cooking oils, herbal teas);
(b) Frozen food (proteins including pork and poultry consistent
with Polish dietary tradition, vegetables, ready meals);
(c) Basic clothing (work clothing, weather-appropriate
outerwear including winter outerwear for the Polish climate,
undergarments, footwear);
(d) Hand tools, household goods, basic kitchen and cleaning
supplies;
(e) Educational supplies (notebooks, pens, calculators,
textbooks aligned with the Polish core curriculum);
(f) Basic baby and child supplies (nappies, formula, basic
clothing, child-safety equipment).
(2) Pricing shall be calculated on the at-cost basis: the production
cost of the goods plus reasonable distribution allowance
(transport, storage, in-store labour, administrative overhead).
No mark-up beyond reasonable distribution allowance is permitted.
(3) For comparable goods, the maximum PZŻ in-store price shall not
exceed 50% of the average retail price of equivalent goods at
Biedronka, Lidl, Carrefour, Auchan, or Kaufland (Polish "Big
Five" grocery chains), as monitored quarterly by the Office of
Competition and Consumer Protection (Urząd Ochrony Konkurencji
i Konsumentów, UOKiK).
ARTICLE 4. RELATIONSHIP TO THE 800+ FAMILY PROGRAMME.
(1) The 800+ Family programme (Świadczenie 800+, established by the
Act of 11 February 2016 on State Aid for the Upbringing of
Children) is wholly preserved by this Act.
(2) A household receiving the 800+ benefit may elect to receive a
portion of the benefit, at the household's option, as in-kind
commodity entitlement at PCZŻ outlets in place of the
corresponding cash payment.
(3) The in-kind election under subsection (2) shall be administered
by ZUS through the existing 800+ enrolment and benefits
infrastructure, with no additional administrative enrolment
required of the household.
(4) No household is required to elect the in-kind option. The
default remains the existing PLN 800 per child per month cash
payment.
ARTICLE 5. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER POLISH SOCIAL-SECURITY ENTITLEMENTS.
(1) Participation in the PZŻ and at-cost purchases at PCZŻ outlets
shall not be treated as income for the purposes of any Polish
social-security entitlement, including:
(a) The State Pension (Emerytura);
(b) Family supplements (Świadczenia rodzinne);
(c) The 13th and 14th annual pension supplements (Trzynasta i
Czternasta Emerytura);
(d) Social-assistance benefits administered by Local Social
Welfare Centres (Ośrodki Pomocy Społecznej, OPS).
(2) The PZŻ is in addition to, and does not replace, any existing
Polish social-security entitlement.
ARTICLE 6. VOIVODESHIP NETWORK.
(1) The PZŻ shall operate at least one PCZŻ outlet in each of the
sixteen voivodeships within twenty-four months of the effective
date of this Act, with priority siting in:
(a) The capital city of each voivodeship;
(b) Designated rural areas with limited commercial-retail access;
(c) Coal-region areas of Śląskie, Łódzkie, Wielkopolskie, and
Małopolskie voivodeships scheduled for managed transition
under coal-industry phase-out timelines;
(d) Areas designated by the Marshal of the voivodeship as
priority based on local food-insecurity assessment.
(2) Within sixty months of the effective date of this Act the
network shall extend to all powiats (counties) with a
population over fifty thousand, and to all gminas (municipalities)
of any size that have submitted a request through the Marshal
of the voivodeship.
DIVISION II — PUBLIC HEALTH EQUITY
ARTICLE 7. PUBLIC HEALTH EQUITY DECLARATION.
The Sejm declares the following.
(1) The Marmot Whitehall finding of 1967-present established, in
the city of Westminster, the threefold coronary mortality
gradient between the highest and lowest civil-service grades,
with less than 25% of the gradient explained by standard risk
factors. This finding has been replicated across European
populations including the Polish HAPIEE (Health, Alcohol and
Psychosocial factors In Eastern Europe) cohort study showing
parallel hierarchy-mediated gradients in Polish cohort data.
(2) Food insecurity, poverty, and hierarchical social position are
declared by the Sejm to be public-health conditions with
documented physiological pathways, treatable in part through
the structural reduction of basic-needs financial stress
achieved by the at-cost commodity availability under Division I.
(3) The National Health Fund (Narodowy Fundusz Zdrowia, NFZ) is
directed to monitor, and report annually to the Sejm, on the
relationship between PCZŻ access in each voivodeship and the
hospitalisation rates for stress-mediated cardiovascular,
metabolic, and mental-health conditions, on the precedent of
the United Kingdom Marmot Review (2010, 2020, 2024).
DIVISION III — EDUCATION MODERNISATION
ARTICLE 8. EDUCATION PIPELINE AND THE K-25 EXTENSION.
(1) The Polish education system, currently compulsory to age 18
under the Education Law (Prawo Oświatowe), is acknowledged by
this Act as a foundation for the K-25 developmental pipeline
proposed by the Vitruvian Quotient framework (Cooper, 2026).
(2) The Minister of Education, in consultation with the rectors of
Polish universities and the Conference of Rectors of Academic
Schools in Poland (KRASP), is directed to prepare a report to
the Sejm within twenty-four months of the effective date of
this Act on the operational steps required to extend
developmental and competency-maintenance frameworks beyond the
current compulsory-education age of 18, including:
(a) Integration of the Vitruvian Quotient framework as an
enhancement layer for assessment and developmental tracking;
(b) Coordination with the Polish technikum (technical secondary)
tradition, which has historical strength and is well-suited
to extension;
(c) Coordination with the post-secondary szkoła policealna
(post-secondary school) sector;
(d) Coordination with the Polish university system on
first-cycle (licencjat / inżynier) and second-cycle
(magister) programmes, including the role of free
tuition for Polish-citizen students attending public
universities (stacjonarne studia).
(3) The Vitruvian Quotient framework (Cooper, 2026) is recognised
by this Act as the conceptual instrument for the K-25 pipeline
proposal. The detailed implementation of a Polish K-25
education modernisation Act is the subject of a separate Bill
to be prepared on the basis of the Minister of Education's
report under subsection (2).
DIVISION IV — FUNDING
ARTICLE 9. INITIAL APPROPRIATION.
(1) For the financial year 2027 there is appropriated from the
Polish state budget the sum of PLN 4 billion (cztery miliardy
złotych) for the establishment of the PZŻ and the initial
construction and operation of PCZŻ outlets.
(2) Subsequent annual appropriations shall be made in the ordinary
budget Act, on the basis of the Authority's annual operating
plan submitted by the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social
Policy.
ARTICLE 10. COORDINATION WITH THE KRAJOWY PLAN ODBUDOWY (KPO).
(1) PZŻ infrastructure capital investment may, by agreement between
the Authority and the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy
(Ministerstwo Funduszy i Polityki Regionalnej), be co-financed
from the Polish Recovery and Resilience Plan (Krajowy Plan
Odbudowy, KPO) allocation, where consistent with the existing
KPO investments and reforms approved by the Council of the
European Union.
(2) The PLN 140 billion of KPO funds distributed by Bank
Gospodarstwa Krajowego under existing KPO arrangements is not
displaced by this Act. PZŻ-eligible KPO co-financing shall be
drawn only from KPO lines consistent with social-inclusion and
rural-development investments.
ARTICLE 11. BGK FINANCING CHASSIS.
(1) The PZŻ may receive bonded indebtedness, infrastructure
lending, and project financing from Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego
on the standard terms of BGK lending to the public sector, up
to a cumulative outstanding limit of PLN 10 billion (dziesięć
miliardów złotych) for capital investment in PCZŻ outlets,
distribution infrastructure, and cooperative-society
partnership investment.
(2) BGK's total assets at end-2024 of PLN 268.99 billion and equity
of PLN 41 billion provide sufficient chassis capacity for the
PLN 10 billion borrowing authority under subsection (1) without
impairment of BGK's other lending mandates.
DIVISION V — GENERAL PROVISIONS
ARTICLE 12. NO NEW TAXATION.
(1) Parliament declares that no new Polish income tax (PIT),
corporate income tax (CIT), value added tax (VAT), excise duty
(akcyza), or other Polish tax of any kind is established,
extended, or increased by this Act.
(2) The Authority is funded through existing Polish fiscal
infrastructure as enumerated in Division IV.
ARTICLE 13. EXISTING INSTITUTIONS UNAFFECTED.
This Act does not affect the establishment, functions, governance, or operation of:
(a) The National Health Fund (Narodowy Fundusz Zdrowia, NFZ); (b) The Social Insurance Institution (Zakład Ubezpieczeń
Społecznych, ZUS);
(c) The Agricultural Social Insurance Fund (Kasa Rolniczego
Ubezpieczenia Społecznego, KRUS);
(d) The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (Urząd
Ochrony Konkurencji i Konsumentów, UOKiK);
(e) Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK), other than the expansion of
its lending portfolio expressly authorised by Article 11;
(f) The Polish Development Fund (Polski Fundusz Rozwoju, PFR); (g) Polish consumer cooperatives including PSS Społem, the Spółdzielcze
Kasy Oszczędnościowo-Kredytowe (SKOK credit unions), and other
Polish cooperative entities;
(h) The Krajowy Plan Odbudowy (KPO), beyond the coordination
expressly authorised by Article 10.
ARTICLE 14. COOPERATIVE-SOCIETY PARTNERSHIP.
(1) The Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy, in
coordination with the Marshals of the voivodeships, is directed
to enter partnership agreements with PSS Społem and other
qualifying Polish consumer cooperatives for the operation of
PCZŻ outlets where the cooperative is willing and able to
deliver the at-cost programme to the standard required by this
Act.
(2) Cooperative-society partnership shall preserve the autonomy of
the cooperative, its membership governance, and its capacity to
operate non-PZŻ retail alongside PZŻ-designated at-cost
distribution.
ARTICLE 15. EFFECTIVE DATE.
(1) This Act takes effect on 1 January 2027, except that Article
9 (Initial Appropriation) takes effect on the date this Act is
promulgated in the Dziennik Ustaw (Journal of Laws), and Article
1 (Establishment) takes effect ninety days after promulgation
to permit administrative establishment.
(2) The Council of Ministers shall issue implementing regulations
(rozporządzenia) within 120 days of promulgation.
ARTICLE 16. INTERPRETATION.
In this Act —
"the Authority" means the administrative coordination body established under Article 1;
"the PZŻ" means the Polish Food, Resource, and Commodity Assurance Programme;
"a PCZŻ outlet" means a Polish Food Assurance Centre established under Article 1;
"voivodeship" (województwo) means one of the sixteen Polish voivodeships;
"powiat" means a Polish county-level administrative unit;
"gmina" means a Polish municipality-level administrative unit;
"ordinarily resident" has the meaning given by Polish residence law as applied for the purposes of this Act;
"800+ Family programme" means the State Aid for the Upbringing of Children programme established under the Act of 11 February 2016.