Government Relations

Beyond the Grocery Store: The Need to Protect Confidential Business Data

The Retail Litigation Center was one of these industry groups to step forward and explain how its members rely on Exemption 4 of the Freedom of Information Act to ensure that the confidential information their members disclose to the government will ...

For Food Retailers Infrastructure Isn’t Just About Reliable Roads

This week kicked-off the seventh-annual Infrastructure Week, with hundreds of organizations and companies coming together to stress the importance of a reliable, well-managed national infrastructure. This year’s iteration comes at a particularly ...

Three Local Issues Rising to The State Level in 2019

A consistent theme we see in the lawmaking process is that absent state preemption, localities often take matters into their own hands when legislation they think is crucial is blocked at the state or federal level. As the wheel of government turns, ...

The Historic Possibilities of the Landmark Supreme Case that Examines the term “Confidential”

To date, the Court has decided 19 cases involving the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), cases involving a wide array of FOIA issues and critical procedural concerns. Not one of those cases, however, has involved the interpretation of FOIA’s ...

The Promise of Confidentiality: FMI Presents Oral Arguments at U.S. Supreme Court

The Food Marketing Institute presented oral arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court in a case with broad implications for large and small commercial enterprises. We have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to clarify the appropriate standard for exempting ...

Have You Had Your Fill of Increased Card Processing Fees?

According to The Nilson Report, U.S. retailers paid almost $100 billion to process card transactions last year. American retailers pay the highest fees to process credit cards in the world, while many other countries are limiting the fees networks ...

Freedom of Information Act Wasn't Created to Shine a Light on Private Parties

The nation’s grocery stores have long kept confidential the amount consumers spend at individual stores with cash, credit and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. To business owners large and small, this store-level sales data is ...

Day in Washington 2019: A Time for Education on Capitol Hill

In just two weeks, FMI will be hosting dozens of its grocery members for its annual Day in Washington fly-in, during which food retail executives will be on Capitol Hill meeting with their members of Congress....

Has Food Waste Finally Met Its Match?

On Tuesday, the Washington headquarters of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hosted a joint event with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to unveil a new strategy to address food waste. ...

Photo Friday: Proclaim It Family Meals Month

Last week the FMI Foundation attended the House Conference District Director Fly-in, where local district directors gathers on Capitol Hill to hear about national initiatives they can take back to their ...

We have an EMV, Now What?

It is hard to believe, but October 2019 will mark four years since the card brand-imposed liability shift went into effect, requiring retailers to invest significant time, resources, and capital to accept “chip” cards in their stores. Now that we ...

Pharmacy DIR Fee Relief at Last? What Retailers Should Know

The plan advocates for increased transparency throughout the pharmaceutical supply chain, including reforms that would upend the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) business model, making it harder for PBMs to siphon money away from pharmacies via DIR ...

The SCOTUS Case that will Reexamine What “Confidential” Means to You

A legal case heading to oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court this spring has far-reaching implications when it comes to something you hold near and dear -- your confidential commercial information. FMI is a named party in the case because we ...

Talking to Customers About Bioengineering

Recently, the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard(BE Rule) established a new standard for disclosure of information to consumers about the BE status of foods. FMI is pleased that this new standard allows information to be shared with ...

FMI Legal, Regulatory and Compliance Conference: Redesigned to Fit Your Needs

More and more, companies are using employees from regulatory, legal, and compliance departments to address the knowns and unknowns of today’s food retail marketplace....