By former USDA Secretary John R. Block For most farmers across the U.S. there is a big sigh of relief. The harvest is over. Time to sit back and relax. Well, there is no time for relaxation here in the Nation’s Capital. This has been a very busy week. On Friday, December 1, I hosted the […]
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By former USDA Secretary John R. Block The U.S. Department of Agriculture is taking a very long time to fill some of our most important management positions. The Administration has 4 under secretary posts unfilled and 3 Assistant Secretary jobs unannounced. Sec. Perdue’s choice for the newly created farm services and conservation post, Bill Northey, should
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By former USDA Secretary John R. Block We just celebrated another Thanksgiving. And we do have a lot to be thankful for. Our economy is roaring with GDP in the 3% range and near full employment. The best advantage that we have is that we don’t live in the Middle East where years of war have
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I. Overview of Final Rule. On November 2nd, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the final rule for the second year of the Quality Payment Program (QPP). The rule outlines the requirements for the 2018 Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) as well as Advanced Alternative Payment Models (APMs). Like the proposed
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By former USDA Secretary John R. Block Last week, I attended the Farm Broadcasters Annual Convention in Kansas City. Over the last 35 years, I have attended almost all of the NAFB events. This year’s convention attracted a near-record crowd. It was very exciting. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue spoke and took questions from the audience
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By former USDA Secretary John R. Block Tax reform is a hot topic here in the nation’s capital. That doesn’t mean that Congress will be able to pass the legislation. On paper, the planned tax overhaul will increase the national debt by $1.5 trillion (over the next ten years). Larry Summers, who served as economic advisor
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By former USDA Secretary John R. Block Today, let’s talk about trade and tax reform. President Trump wants to improve the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and the Congress is presenting a tax reform package. NAFTA is in the spotlight right now. The whole farm and food industry is worried that President Trump could formally
Virtually all grocery stores, convenience stores, and supermarkets sell hot foods. Nearly all sell cold prepared foods as well. Most of the more than 260,000 retail food stores authorized by USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (“FNS”) to accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (“SNAP”) benefits sell some hot foods and cold prepared foods. But the SNAP
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On October 26, 2017, OFW Law founding principal Richard L. Frank filled in for former USDA Secretary John R. Block on his weekly radio broadcast. The opioid epidemic is a national crisis. Drug overdoses are killing 64,000 Americans each year. It is the leading cause of death for individuals under 50. It requires urgent action and solutions from across our
John Block Reports: The Opioid Crisis – Stop Pointing Fingers Read More »
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block By now, I should not be surprised when the federal government uses its power and strength to hammer a defenseless individual citizen. Let me tell you about Edward Poitevent and the dusky gopher frog. In 2011, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published a new habitat rule. On May
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By Senator Bob Dole and Marshall Matz, as published in The Des Moines Register The World Food Prize Foundation, based in Des Moines, Iowa, is again focusing attention on food security by honoring Dr. Akin Adesina, the president of the African Development Bank. With a PhD in agriculture from Purdue, Dr. Adesina is the first “aggie”
Kristen O’Brien serves as Counsel in OFW Law’s Health Industry Policy and Regulatory Practice, which represents clients in the health care delivery system and innovative life sciences areas. She is principally responsible for the group’s work with health care delivery system clients, including large physician groups, integrated health systems and other provider organizations. She also
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block Worries about our ag trade are escalating. Farmers are desperate. We export more than a quarter of what we produce. Farm prices are in the tank. Any wrong move that would cause us to lose markets would be a devastating blow. President Trump has threatened to withdraw from the
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By former USDA Secretary John R. Block The TV has been dominated by hurricanes. The Texas coast was devastated and next, Hurricane Irma hit Florida. Powerful winds destroyed half of the crops. Orange juice is going to cost $2 per gallon more. We should not underestimate the destruction and cost to families, government, or the time
John Block: Priorities Read More »
Over 30 years ago, the National Conference on Weights and Measures (NCWM) collaborated with the Association of Food and Drug Officials to establish an initial open dating regulation. This regulation — now the Uniform Open Dating Regulation (UODR), published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology within the U.S. Department of Commerce — is
Open Date Labeling Revisions for Food Appear To Be on the Horizon Read More »
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block You may have heard about the John Duarte wetlands case. John Duarte, a California farmer, bought 450 acres in 2012. He plowed and planted it to wheat. The Army Corps of Engineers, the California Water Quality Control Board, and the EPA came after him. He was looking at a
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It will take months to calculate the damage Hurricanes Harvey and Irma unleashed on Texas, Louisiana, Florida, and other states this summer: lives lost, homes destroyed, businesses wrecked, property damage in the tens of billions of dollars. But beyond everything else, these storms and their massive devastation have exposed deep problems in the Federal government’s
Several food industry groups hope so. The responsibility for implementing two major changes to food labeling requirements has fallen on the Trump Administration: Nutrition Facts Panel – On May 27, 2016, FDA published a final rule that will overhaul the Nutrition Facts panel that we have become accustomed to on foods. In addition to some
Last week the CPSC held a hearing to address its pending proposed rule to require active injury mitigation (“AIM”) technology on table saws. In recent years, too often CPSC hearings have devolved into little more than theater, obviously intended to generate press but little understanding of the complex issues the agency is so often called
Saw Hearing Shows Need to Sharpen CPSC Regulatory Tools Read More »
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block Today, I have a fishy story to talk about, but before I get started on that, what do you think of the nation’s economy? I know the farm economy is not booming, but consumer confidence is off the charts – a 20% jump from last year. Unemployment is down
John Block: GE Salmon Read More »
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block The U.S. Congress can’t agree on anything. However, they did agree to impose new sanctions on Russia. The vote was almost unanimous. The action is punishment for the Russian cyber intrusions into last year’s election. In addition to the sanctions, the bill restricts President Trump’s flexibility in dealing
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By Marshall Matz, as published in Agri-Pulse The 2018 Senate Agriculture Appropriations Report notes that global food production will have to increase by 60 percent to meet the needs of 9 billion people forecast for 2050. The report then calls upon USDA Secretary Perdue “to take a leadership role in working with other relevant departments and
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By former USDA Secretary John R. Block To kick this off with some serious facts, let me ask – did you know that 7% of all American adults believe that chocolate milk comes from brown cows? One in five adults doesn’t know that hamburgers are made from beef. Three in ten don’t know that cheese is
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OFW Law is pleased to announce the creation of a new Health Industry Policy and Regulatory Practice. The practice will be focused on government health program payment issues and FDA-related policy issues for clients in the health care delivery system and innovative life sciences areas. To provide leadership for this practice, OFW Law is also
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block There aren’t any forest fires here in the east near Washington, D.C. No raging fires near our farm in Illinois. But the front pages of the Washington Post and the Washington Times both tell us the west is burning. Thousands are fleeing wild fires – forests and range land
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By former USDA Secretary John R. Block Today, I’m going to talk about President Donald Trump – policies, issues, tweets and all. Yes, I think he tweets too much or, at least, he should limit his tweets to policies and avoid personal attacks. I understand why he would want to get even. The mainstream media has
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By former USDA Secretary John R. Block This week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture posted the announcement of this year’s World Food Prize Foundation laureate. At one time, he was the Nigerian Minister of Agriculture, and he now runs the African Development Bank – Dr. Akinwumi Adesina. He has been a leader in transforming African agriculture.
John Block: Ag Issues 2017 Read More »
One of the very positive hallmarks of the new leadership at the CPSC is a desire to hear from all interested stakeholders on how to more effectively push forward the agency’s safety mission. The agency has offered several opportunities for input, and for those of us who share that goal, these opportunities should not be
Tell CPSC What You Think Read More »
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block Tip of the day— “Seven percent of all American adults believe that chocolate milk comes from brown cows.” “One in five adults don’t know that hamburgers are beef.” We have a major education challenge. Now to look at some priority issues of the day. Trade has to be near
John Block: This and That 2017 Read More »
By Dr. Nina Fedoroff, as published in Agri-Pulse USDA and FDA proposals to regulate genetically engineered (GE) plants and animals following the recent update of the regulatory framework are on their websites awaiting public comment by June 19, 2017. The documents on which comments are requested are long, dense and, at times, internally inconsistent. Here’s a detailed
Think This is Biotech Regulatory Relief? Not Yet. Read More »
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block I have two subjects to cover today. One that is very hopeful – Governor Terry Branstad, now Ambassador Terry Branstad, is headed to China. The other issue, which is not very hopeful, has to do with horses. Ambassador Branstad – as Governor of Iowa, he was very close
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By former USDA Secretary John R. Block Back in March, President Trump gave us a look at his budget plan. Although without much detail, it made clear to us that one of his highest priorities was to downsize the federal government. And, he would do that by cutting spending. He had already said that he
John Block: Budget Read More »
The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) is seeking “public comments on matters relevant to the modernization of NAFTA in order to inform development of U.S. negotiating positions.” This is an opportunity for anyone impacted by U.S. trade with Canada and Mexico, either positively or negatively, to raise issues that they would like to see addressed in
NAFTA Re-Negotiation Objectives: USTR Requests Public Input Read More »
NYC just announced that its revised calorie labeling rule for food service establishments will take effect on May 22, 2017, and will begin being enforced with notices of violation subject to fines on August 21, 2017. This pre-dates the recently re-delayed effective date for federal menu labeling of May 7, 2018. The NYC rule,
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By former USDA Secretary John R. Block “Trump’s Tax Plan Would Spur Growth” – that is the headline in a recent Wall Street Journal paper. First, let me say that President Trump’s tax reform plan is not very specific. I think that is good. The Congress will write the legislation anyway. We all know if
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