The BioPreferred^® program was created by the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 and expanded by the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008. In addition, Presidential Executive Order 13514, Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance, mandates the purchasing of biobased products.

The United States Department of Agriculture manages the BioPreferred program. BioPreferred includes a preferred procurement program for Federal agencies and their contractors, and a voluntary labeling program for the broad scale consumer.

Under the Federal procurement preference program, USDA designates categories of biobased products. Federal agencies and their contactors are then required to give preferential consideration to these designated product categories when making purchases.

As a part of this process of designating product categories for the Federal procurement preference, USDA establishes the minimum biobased content for the category. Information on the technical, health, and environmental characteristics of these products are also considered.