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27 ways to cut red tape
Story Date: 12/19/2017
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Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 12/18/17
The USDA plans to carry out 27 final rules in fiscal 2018 aimed at easing regulatory requirements to save an estimated $56 million, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said Friday. That's a fraction of the department's roughly $150 billion budget, Pro Ag's Catherine Boudreau and Helena Bottemiller Evich report. The actions were part of the Trump administration's Unified Agenda, which outlines regulatory priorities across the federal government and an overarching goal to reduce "burdensome" regulations.
What do the rules include? The final rules range from efforts to reduce paperwork in the Summer Food Service Program for low-income children to consolidating Farm Service Agency debt collection. The department also wants to relax a SNAP regulation rolled out during the Obama administration that would require retailers accepting food stamps to stock a larger variety of healthful foods. The measure primarily targeted convenience stores. The government spending law blocks the USDA from implementing that rule in its current form.
Where do they want to start? USDA said it would start the rule-making process for a variety of regulations, including one that will govern how food manufacturers can label products containing genetically engineered ingredients. The department said final action on that will come in July, the deadline instituted by Congress when it passed a mandatory disclosure law for GMO ingredients in 2016.
Abandoning an organic rule: To the dismay of animal advocacy groups and the organic industry, the USDA said it would scrap welfare standards for organic livestock production. The agency contends that the rule ran afoul of the department's statutory authority and went "beyond the intent" of the federal law that created the organic program.
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