Government Relations

What’s In A Brand?

Life is full of circumstances and situations that prompt us to evaluate our personal brand and make necessary changes, adapting to a new position or setting by shifting our brand. Sometimes these involve small adjustments and sometimes we must ...

Smarter Food Safety: Emerging Technologies, Smarter Tools for Prevention, Evolving Business Models, and Food Safety Culture

Our “New Era of Food Safety" comments focus on several key principles, including focusing on outcomes; leveraging existing tools; increasing communications with stakeholders; accounting for the food industry’s variable resources and abilities; and ...

Preparing Our Legislative Strategy for 2020 and Beyond

Lawmakers recently returned to Washington to begin the second session of the 116th Congress. While 2020 is often correlated with hindsight, our focus this year will be on laying the groundwork for the future scenarios expected throughout this year ...

FMI’s 2019 Year in Review

There is something particularly noble about accomplishments that have so many ups and downs and surprise developments that they require a special brand of perseverance. Finishing the fight requires overcoming the nagging drag of self-doubt when the ...

SNAP: Work Requirements for Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents

As a safety net, USDA has historically granted work requirement waivers for those individuals living in states that can demonstrate unemployment rates above 10 percent and/or, a lack of sufficient jobs in their state or within localities in their ...

A Guide: Hemp, CBD and the Food Retail Industry

How can your company navigate the emerging and changing regulatory framework while addressing the rising consumer demand for CBD products? Carefully. FMI has compiled a resource guide to help our member companies account for the many federal and ...

Feds, States and Localities Continue to Tackle Flavored E-cigarettes

Before the 24-hour coverage of the presidential impeachment hearings, the majority of the news this fall surrounded e-cigarettes, their safety, and the many flavors in which they come....

Being Prepared For A Government Shutdown

While we're optimistic that the government will stay open past November 21, we encourage members to be prepared in case of a federal shutdown. Any food retail operation that may need to renew or apply for a new Supplemental Nutrition Assistance ...

Hand in Hand Working to Reduce Food Waste

Founding members of FWRA signed an important memorandum of understandingwith three key government agencies – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The ...

Tobacco 21 Bills Gain Local, State and Federal Traction

Tweaks to existing laws have dominated the spectrum of tobacco legislation, and none as much as the minimum tobacco purchase age. The 1980s and 1990s saw the states establish a tobacco purchase age of 18, with a handful at ...

Helping Retailers Understand and Comply with The National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard

As a trusted ally to shoppers, food retailers want to provide easily accessible information whenever possible to customers as well as additional information they may be interested in. The National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard (NBFDS) ...

Urge Congress to Prohibit Retroactive Pharmacy DIR Fees

According to the federal government, DIR fees charged to pharmacies have grown by more than 45,000 percent over the past 10 years! And, in an industry that operates on razor-thin profit margins, supermarket pharmacies have virtually no ability to ...

Monitoring SNAP Policy Implications for Food Retail

Over the past year, USDA and other agencies have announced proposed rules changes for SNAP participation. FMI has tracked these changes and provided commented on key issues that could affect our industry. We highlighted a few proposals we’re ...

Helping Retailers Navigate the Americans with Disabilities Act

Recently, FMI hosted a webinar for members to examine the Americans with Disability Act, or “ADA,” based on recent trends in litigation, and ways to help mitigate potential ...

Proposed Regulatory Changes Could Offer Truckers Much Needed Flexibility

Grocers know all too well the important role the trucking industry plays not just for food retailers, but for the American economy more broadly. Trucks are responsible for moving 70% of all freight tonnage in the U.S. every year, which includes ...