President Joe Biden’s first year as our 46th president is now history. Personally, I truly wish that it could have been a year of many noteworthy legislative accomplishments especially after a tumultuous four years under Number 45. But it was not to be. As I mentioned in my column last month, key legislative proposals such as new voting rights legislation and Biden’s Build Back Better (BBB) social-services, and climate-change legislation did not pass. Yes, there were some successes such as passage of the major pandemic relief package plus the massive infrastructure bill. But too much was left on the table that should be cause for concern. So, where does President Biden go now as he enters year two of his four-year term?
Moving forward (hopefully), political junkies like me are divided between a “reset” of priorities and a “charge forward” strategy. Consensus from the news media, including Sunday talk show participants all point toward a desire for Mr. Biden and his administration to find and identify salvageable legislative issues to tackle such as lowering the cost of prescription drugs (see “Proposed Rule to Lower Drug Prices” below), universal preschool, and more aid to families who are struggling with the impact of COVID. Then, add to that mix, so as not to write-off failed major initiatives like BBB and voting rights legislation, suggestions to remove non-controversial elements of these and other important proposals and then toss them at a wall to see what sticks. Maybe that will turn out to be what it takes to get some important issues across the finish line. The only thing folks sitting on both sides of the aisle do agree on is that COVID continues to make them cringe as the virus acts like a spider web – reaching out to encompass practically every facet of our daily lives. So, putting politics aside, how do we in the food industry learn how to live with COVID? Read on.
Impact Of The Virus On The Food Industry
In a conversation with Food Safety News, John Rowley, vice president of NSF International’s global food division, recently discussed his views on 2022 trends in the food industry with a focus on COVID’s impact on our business. By the way, NSF specializes in food safety training, testing, and consulting for the food industry. Rowley said all segments of the supply chain, from producers through retailers and restaurants, continue to shift to meet challenges, even as the pandemic had led to staffing woes and exacerbated supply chain gridlock. He cited four major trends that must be addressed one way or another by the food industry in 2022. They include: the rising demand for home delivery; the staffing crisis; opportunities for cutting food waste; and sustainability. These four elements should be on your radar screen too. Rowley cautioned companies against reverting to pre-pandemic trends once life returns to more normal without assessing the business climate first. He said, “I think when the crisis is over, it doesn’t mean these trends will – or should – stop. Never waste a good crisis if there is good that can come out of it.” Good words to live by indeed.
Vaccines Are No Longer Mandatory
Aside from wearing masks within retail environments, a mandate from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was recently overturned by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling to block a COVID vaccine mandate for private businesses including, of course, retail food stores. The high court determined that OSHA had overstepped its authority in requiring that companies with 100 or more employees have their employees vaccinated. The Food Marketing Institute (FMI) and the National Grocers Association (NGA), among other industry groups, applauded the court ruling. At the same time, the trade groups explained that what they do support are efforts to increase vaccination rates that do not place added pressure on an already strained food supply chain and labor force. That’s a win for the business community in these tumultuous times.
So, What Is Next?
Let there be no doubt that the pandemic has played havoc with the farm-to-fork food supply chain in unprecedented ways and has caused huge disruptions in every channel of food distribution. The federal government has not stood by idly by any means and I must give credit again to the Biden administration for stepping up to the plate to address the problems on several fronts, including pumping billions of dollars in federal payments for COVID aid to individuals, families, farmers, businesses, etc. But where do we go from here? That’s the $64,000 question.
Agri-Pulse Communications, a very trusted communications source in Washington with the largest editorial team focused on food and farm policy, offers an opportunity to answer the above question. Agri-Pulse has put together a special seminar to explore wide-ranging policies and politics under consideration on the Hill with participation by leading experts, members of Congress and administration officials. Their annual one-day seminar will be held on March 21 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the National Press Club in Washington, DC Public affairs food industry representatives who advise their management should find this conference a “must attend” opportunity to learn so you can then provide strategic counsel to your top management. Go to www.agri-pulse.com/21748-2022-Ag-and-food-policy-summit for more information or to sign up.
Food Safety Priorities In 2022
The Interagency Food Safety Analytics Collaboration (IFSAC) – a collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) – has published its priorities for 2022-2023 which should be of interest to your food safety teams, especially with recent spikes in reports of foodborne illnesses. IFSAC said it will continue to publish annual reports on foodborne illness source attribution for priority pathogens and will continue to improve methods for estimating foodborne illness source attribution using outbreak and sporadic disease data.
IFSAC was established in 2011 to improve coordination of federal food safety analytic efforts and address cross-cutting priorities for food safety data collection, analysis, and use by the public and private sector. For more information, email [email protected].
Proposed Rule To Lower Drug Prices
Several national food trade associations including FMI and NGA have publicly announced support of a proposed rule from the Health and Human Service Department and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that would address the hidden “claw back” fees charged by drug middlemen and reduce prices for consumers.
The payments in question, known as direct and indirect remuneration fees (DIR), were meant to be applied at the point of sale to lower the cost of prescription drugs for Medicare recipients. However, most of the fees are “clawed back” from pharmacies by pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) after being dispensed to the customer, and therefore are seldom used as intended for reimbursement to reduce retail drug cost. The proposed rule would require Medicare Part D plans to apply all price concessions they receive, including DIR fees, at the point of sale. According to the federal government, pharmacy DIR fees have risen by 91,500 percent between 2010 and 2019. No, that number is not a typo. This is one of those issues to write to your Congressional representatives about to ask for their support!
USDA Forecast
There is no doubt that the secretary of USDA and his team have done a lot during the unparalleled challenges faced in 2021 particularly with the COVID issue as it impacted hunger and supply chain issues. The price tag last year to handle these challenges totaled in the billions of dollars. What’s ahead in 2022?
USDA recently stated that in 2022 the department will prioritize and focus on the following objectives:
- Increasing participation in the Women, Infants and Children’s Program (WIC) by modernizing the program and ensuring parents understand the value of WIC, using $390 million from the American Rescue Plan Act.
- Supporting schools as they navigate the pandemic challenges so that children get healthy meals while attending school.
- Evaluating all USDA’s nutrition assistance programs to ensure that they serve all Americans equitably.
- Continuing USDA’s focus on nutrition security, not just for the duration of the pandemic, but well into the future to make sure the many nutrition programs the department offers are providing access to nutritious food for all those in need.
In a nutshell, that is what USDA has as its mission plan in 2022. Many of you will be partnering with USDA to achieve some of these priorities and if you do, follow the words of John Rowley as I cited above to try to learn from the pandemic to become better operators within your business.
Barry Scher is associated with the public policy firm of Policy Solutions LLC and may be reached at [email protected]
