WASHINGTON — With a strong focus on advocacy, the American Bakers Association (ABA) has bolstered its government relations team. In addition to Rasma Zvaners, vice president of government relations, the team now includes Campbell Genn, senior director of government relations; Thomas Bailey, director government relations; and Bill Dumais, manager of state affairs. 

“I’m excited that we have a full government relations team on board with Bill focused on state activity, both regulatory and legislative,” Zvaners said “Thomas is coming with an amazing background from the Hill that will help us with workforce, and then Campbell comes with a background in the US Department of Agriculture and a focus on nutrition policy. I think we have a lot of good work to come.” 

Major focuses in the immediate future include the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) proposed rule on the heat standard for workplaces. The comment period for the proposed rule ends Dec. 30. The rule targets both outdoor agriculture workers and indoor manufacturing workers, including commercial bakeries. 

“Right now we are trying to collect information and data from our members on how this will affect them,” Bailey said. “We’ll relay that information to the administration and hopefully they’ll change some of their criteria for the standards that are going to be put into effect.” 

So far much of the feedback on the proposed rule has been concern around productivity and employee retention and the HVAC system retrofitting that will be required of facilities to fall in line with the new standards. 

State affairs are largely on hold while all but four state legislatures are out of session at the moment, but Dumais said he’ll be monitoring legislation in the new year that may be picked up again, such as state bans on ingredients. The ABA’s position is to push back on these bans, arguing that a state ban sets bad precedence as the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has deemed ingredients safe. 

“Just last Wednesday FDA kicked off its first meeting on how to strategically look at ingredient post market assessments to consider a federal level strategy,” Zvaners explained. 

On the state side, packaging is another topic to watch, with states deciding how paper and plastic is recycled and producer responsibility laws may be extended. ABA continues to monitor and educate state governments on the impact of such legislation. 

Zvaners said on the nutrition side, ABA is also waiting and communicating with FDA on the possibility of defining “healthy” for voluntary labeling on packaging as well as the possibility for guidance on front-of-pack labeling. The government relations team is also paying close attention to the development of the next iteration of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and how that might impact MyPlate recommendations. 

One new development Zvaners has seen crop up as the presidential election approaches is both sides of the aisle are turning their attention to food. 

“We are seeing nutrition policy become a political issue,” she said. “I think nutrition policy is an area where the commercial baking sector has a good story to tell because our products provide everything from stable grains to whole grains to indulgent treats.”