USDA Roundtable Discussion Thursday, June 14, 2018

The U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Advocacy will be hosting a teleconference to discuss the following topic at 1 p.m. on Thursday, June 14, 2018. Teleconference participation details will be provided upon receipt of RSVP.

RSVPs should be sent to: prianka.sharma@sba.gov.

Parties interested in presenting oral comments during the teleconference should indicate this in their RSVP. Each participant will initially be granted three minutes to speak. Additional time may be allotted based on availability and number of participants.

Agenda

1:00 p.m. – 1:05 p.m. Introduction and Background (Prianka Sharma, Assistant Chief Counsel, SBA Office of Advocacy Michael McManus, Regulatory Economist, SBA Office of Advocacy)

1:05 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Input from Interested Small Entity Stakeholders

Roundtable meetings are open to all interested persons, with the exception of the press, in order to facilitate open and frank discussion about the impacts of Federal regulatory activities on small entities. Agendas and presentations are available to all, including the press. Anyone who wants to receive roundtable agendas or presentations, or to be included in the distribution list, should forward such requests to: prianka.sharma@sba.gov.

The purpose of these Roundtable meetings is to exchange opinions, facts and information and to obtain the attendees’ individual views and opinions regarding small business concerns. The meetings are not intended to achieve or communicate any consensus positions of the attendees.

Background:

On May 4, 2018 the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) proposed a rule to establish a national mandatory bioengineered (BE) food disclosure standard. The proposed rule would require food manufacturers and all other entities that label foods for retail sale to disclose information about BE food and ingredient content. The rule provides a uniform standard for disclosure.

The Agency states that the proposed rule will have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities and is seeking public comments. Written comments are due by July 3, 2018.