Bill Huffman
Director - Government Relations

The Friday Report

July 31, 2009

The House of Representatives has approved a major Food Safety Reform Bill by a large margin. The vote was 283-142 with most of the Democrats supporting the measure as well as many key Republicans from across the country. Here are some key details of this legislation:

• The revised bill returns jurisdiction over livestock to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and limits the expanded authority of the Food and Drug Administration on the farm.

• The legislation restricts the issuance of new food safety standards to only the riskiest produce and limits the tracing of food supply chains. 

• It also clarifies that all farms as well as retail food establishments that sell directly to consumers do not have to register with the FDA or pay the annual $500 fee.

• Importantly, the bill clarifies the bill’s traceability and record-keeping provisions, largely exempting the grain industry including rice from extensive record keeping.

• Finally, The Food Safety Enhancement Act (HR 2749) would give the FDA much broader authority to inspect food production facilities and more easily make recalls and levy fines against food producers. All facilities that produce, manufacture, transport or hold foods (supply warehouses) would be required to register annually with the FDA.

We would like to acknowledge and thank House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson who intervened with the author of this bill, Congressman John Dingell, D-Michigan and Chairman Henry Waxman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, to eliminate provisions that could have required every rice and grain farmer to register with FDA and keep voluminous records on production of their respective crop.  For all intents and purposes, Chairman Peterson was successful in keeping “FDA off the farm”.

Climate Change Legislation

The battle and debate over “Climate Change Legislation” continues in Washington.  Members of the Senate Agriculture Committee have asked USDA Chief Economist Dr. Joe Glauber to update USDA’s study regarding EPA’s agriculture analysis of the American Clean Energy and Security Act. Ranking Republican member Senator Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and Republican Senators Thad Cochran, John Cornyn, Charles Grassley, Mike Johanns, Richard Lugar, Mitch McConnell, Pat Roberts and John Thune signed the letter asking for the USDA update.

According to the letter, USDA’s preliminary analysis of the House-passed measure is a first step in understanding the vast impacts of the measure on agriculture, however, the Republican members of the Senate Ag Committee say it is more appropriate for USDA to use a range of estimates, rather than solely relying on estimates from EPA.

We continue to believe that it will be a very close vote in the U.S. Senate on Climate Change legislation if this legislation comes to the Senate floor this fall for a vote.

Some Interesting Domestic Usage Numbers

The USA Rice Federation’s annual survey of milled rice shipments to the U.S. domestic market came in with some very interesting numbers. Here’s a brief summary of the most recent data:

• Americans consume 25 pounds of rice per person annually.

• There were total rice shipments of 114 million cwt of rice to the domestic U.S. market, the U.S. trust territories, and export markets-a 16 percent increase over the previous year. Of that, 70 million cwt shipped within the domestic U.S. market.

• Fifty-six (56%) percent of these shipments went into direct food use and forty-four (44%) percent went into pet food, processed food, beer and sake.

• Of the rice shipments for direct food use, the largest market segment was retail grocery and warehouse clubs; 35%, ethnic distribution and re-packers; 22%, and mainline food service at 17%.

• Brown rice shipments continue to increase, up 37% from the previous year.

• Unfortunately, USDA reports that there were 17 million cwt of rice imports last year, that’s the highest figure on record.

These numbers are important as marketers strategize target their marketing efforts for their respective companies.

The 2009 California Rice Crop

Rice is heading across the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valley’s.  The recent warm weather has really given rice a strong shot and growers report the crop overall looks very good throughout California.