News & Insights
John Block: Two Issues
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block I have two issues to put forward today. They aren’t related, but we...
John Block: Controversy is Good
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block The headlines in the papers and on the evening highlights: “White House in...
John Block: Regulations
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block President Trump is aggressively working to relieve the heavy burden of excessive regulations...
Welcoming New Leadership at the CPSC
Although it took a while, new leadership has finally come to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. After a flurry of...
Biotech Regulations Must be Based on Facts, Not Fears
By Dr. Nina Fedoroff, as published in Agri-Pulse The Coordinated Framework (CF) for the Regulation of Biotechnology was first implemented...
Pity the Poor APA: How President Trump has Crippled Federal Rulemaking in Ten Short Days
Views expressed in this post are intended as solely those of the author. Nothing is more boring than the Federal...
John Block: Trade
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block I want to focus on trade today. From agriculture’s perspective, it is extremely...
Trade is Key for Agriculture
By Senator Bob Dole and Marshall Matz, as published in Agri-Pulse Perhaps no sector of the American economy is more...
John Block: Perdue as Ag Secretary
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block The news of the day is that Donald Trump is President. His critics...
NAFTA Renegotiation: What’s At Stake?
President Trump has made re-evaluating our approach to international trade a centerpiece of his economic agenda. In addition to putting...
USDA Guarantees Kosher and Halal Meat Can Be Organic, Too
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has assured the kosher and halal meat industries that the meat they produce with the...
Priebus’ January 20 Memorandum on Regulatory Freeze Pending Review
A memorandum from the President’s Chief of Staff, dated Friday, January 20, but released this afternoon via the Federal Register,...
John Block Reports: Barack Hussein Obama – A Retrospective
Today, OFW Law founding principal Richard L. Frank fills in for former USDA Secretary John R. Block on his weekly...
Organic Reform
By Marshall Matz and Peter Matz, as published in Agri-Pulse The House of Representatives’ Freedom Caucus lists the USDA National...
John Block: Priorities for 2017
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block We know some people are not happy to see Donald Trump move into...
SNAP Wars: Scott Walker, Tom Vilsack and Drug Testing of SNAP Beneficiaries
For more than 20 years, Federal law has expressly provided that states may test welfare recipients for use of controlled...
FNS Agrees To (Finally) Start Publishing SNAP Retailer Final Agency Decisions
In a major victory for supermarkets, convenience stores, and other Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) retailers, the U.S. Food and...
Up in Flames: Ninth Circuit Upholds Certification in “100% Natural” Wesson Oil Class Action
In a January 3, 2017, decision likely to have broad implications in food class action litigation, the Ninth Circuit Court...