As we move further into 2018, we just wanted to let you know about some of the highlights our Food & Agribusiness Industry Group accomplished in 2017.
Here are just some of the services we performed for clients last year:
- Presentation of our first Food & Ag Summit on May 18
- Representation of clients in addressing problems arising in both Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspections
- Defense and advice on various employment claims, including Equal Opportunity Employment Commission and immigration matters
- Representation of clients in FDA and USDA (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service) investigations of violations
- Assistance with sales and purchases of facilities
- Assistance with clients actively seeking to acquire businesses or to sell their business in the merger and acquisition space
- Advice and assistance with capital formation for new agribusinesses and restructuring of existing businesses
- Assistance with development and construction of facilities
- Assistance with processing potable water and wastewater planning and permitting issues
- Advice and restructuring assistance regarding employee benefits
- Advice on product labeling at the federal and state levels in multiple jurisdictions
- Advice on product importation in U.S.
- Permitting for new facilities (state and federal)
- Addressing various product licensing issues
- Negotiation of product sale contracts
- Negotiation of supply contracts
- Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board licensing and assistance to alcoholic beverage manufacturers and retailers
- Product trademarks
In addition to our Food & Ag event in May that featured dozens of speakers from the industry, the group has been generating national interest and I was honored to speak at two national food and ag events:
- In May 2017, I presented in Chicago at the American Conference Institute (ACI) Food Law and Regulation Forum on the topic of “Exploring Individual Liability Through the Invocation of a Corporate Office Doctrine and Yates Memo as they Apply in the Food Industry.”
- In November 2017, I presented in Chicago at the American Conference Institute Food Law and Regulation Boot Camp on the topic of “Inspections in the Age of FSMA: What to Do If the Government Shows Up at Your Door.”
The ACI conferences are opportunities for in-house counsel and executives, as well as private-practice lawyers working for the food industry, to obtain regulatory knowledge which is critical to their business and their practice. Presenters are food law bar practitioners, including private practice attorneys, in-house counsel, and government attorneys, as well as executives and experts in the food industry. In April 2018, I’m scheduled to speak at the ACI’s Food Law Conference, presenting on “Practical Guidance on Developing a Foreign Supplier Verification Program and Safeguard Protocols to Ensure that Suppliers Are in Compliance with FDA, USDA, and Other Standards.”
And don’t forget to be on the lookout for an upcoming date for our second Food & Ag seminar in 2018!
If anyone has any questions on what the Barley Snyder Food & Agribusiness Industry Group can do for you or for your business, please contact me or any of the attorneys in the group. And if you’re already familiar with the work we do, we appreciate it if you tell your friends about your experience with Barley Snyder.
