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INDUSTRY EXECUTIVES URGE MAJOR GOVERNMENT REFORM

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. -- For the food industry to continue to thrive into the next century, it will need a leaner, less intrusive government that is also more knowledgeable and responsive to industry needs.This was the argument offered by three of four industry experts participating in a panel discussion on the government's role during the National-American Wholesale Grocers' Association's

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. -- For the food industry to continue to thrive into the next century, it will need a leaner, less intrusive government that is also more knowledgeable and responsive to industry needs.

This was the argument offered by three of four industry experts participating in a panel discussion on the government's role during the National-American Wholesale Grocers' Association's Midyear Executive Conference here.

The forum was moderated by Arthur R. Miller, noted Harvard Law School professor and ABC's "Good Morning America" legal editor. Panelists in favor of major government reform included Michael W. Wright, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Supervalu, Minneapolis; H. Allen Ryan, International Foodservice Distributors Association chairman and president of NorthCenter Foodservice, Augusta, Maine, and Christopher DeMuth, president of the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, Washington.

Joan B. Claybrook, president of Public Citizen, a nonprofit, national public interest advocacy organization founded by Ralph Nader, was the lone panel voice opposed to major government overhaul -- although she acknowledged that the government could fine-tune itself in a number of areas to become more responsive and accountable to business and the public.

The theme that government has grown out of control was stressed time and again during the session, as panelists called for sweeping changes in many of the areas proposed by Republican lawmakers under their much-touted Contract With America. Ryan, for example, said that his 173-employee company is required to report to 56 different government agencies on the federal, state and local levels. "The government is one more competitor we have to face," he said.

According to Claybrook, business has itself to blame for influencing Congress into enacting many laws, both through its own lobbying efforts and through instances of abuse in the areas of health and public safety.

Wright noted that many laws that affect the food industry are obsolete and need to be reformed or abolished, such as the 41-year-old

law prohibiting workers younger than 18 from using cardboard balers.

He also suggested that the government should take the cue from companies such as Supervalu that have expended a lot of time, money and effort on re-engineering. Wright proposed that an outside party evaluate government branch by branch to identify areas in need of retooling and help develop and implement a plan of action.

Panel participants named the welfare program as a prime area for change. "When you think of all the billions we spend [on welfare], it doesn't get the job done -- people are still homeless and hungry in the U.S.," Wright said. "We've entrapped generations of people in a cycle of poverty who aren't getting the proper help, education and training despite all these government programs."

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration was another area targeted for change. Panelists complained about an OSHA "police state," where fines are being levied for often trivial "offenses" with little proof of abuse and even less understanding of the industry. Several said that competition has been the greatest regulator of companies.

"The workplace was not unregulated before OSHA," DeMuth said. "The industry self-regulated itself through associations and the sharing of information, and it still does."

"You can't do anything but run a safe workplace today, or you run the risk of becoming very high-cost and uncompetitive," added Wright.

Claybrook responded that "if OSHA didn't have that enforcement power, would people listen to it? "OSHA has been instrumental in helping make many changes, such as in asbestos standards, that came about because companies were misbehaving and it made people angry."

Panelists also were critical of the Food and Drug Administration and the lengthy, costly approval process it forces companies to endure to get promising new treatments into the hands of those who need it.

"The results of massive data show that FDA is actually a detriment to health," DeMuth said. "Occasionally, it keeps a dangerous drug off the shelf, but it also keeps effective, proven [in other countries] life-saving drugs off the shelves for 10 years, and sometimes decades."

Claybrook defended FDA, saying that the testing process for new drugs is more thorough than other areas of the world and takes several years. She also said the process is often delayed by inadequate data from the companies that have developed the drugs.

TAGS: Supervalu