WASHINGTON (FNS) -- Supermarket trade associations are backing a Senate bill that would give Congress 45 days to review new government regulations it considers burdensome or un-necessary to business before the rules take effect.
Under the bill -- unanimously approved by the Senate last week -- federal agencies would have to send any new rules with a projected economic impact of $100 million or more to Congress for review before they are put into effect. Any member could then introduce a resolution of disapproval, and Congress could pass the resolution by majority vote.
The Senate plan differs radically from a House version passed last month. The House bill -- also backed by the grocery industry -- would block implementation of regulations retroactively from Nov. 20, 1994, through the end of this year. The National-American Wholesale Grocers' Association, the National Grocers Association and the Food Marketing Institute have joined other industry groups in backing proposed moratoriums on government regulations.
While the House bill would exclude from the moratorium regulations the president considers critical to protecting the health and safety of citizens -- which could include food inspections -- the Senate bill has no such exclusions. A regulation affecting the new meat Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points inspection system would be delayed by the House bill. President Clinton has vowed to veto the House plan.
