Biden administration will impose new regulations on meat industry, expert warns

The meat industry’s future retail pricing is in limbo, experts said, in anticipation of the Biden administration's forthcoming emergency temporary health guidelines amid the coronavirus pandemic’s squeeze on the economy...The Biden administration is focusing on “re-regulation,” a large shift away from the Trump administration’s deregulation push, Andrew Harig, a policy expert at the Food Industry Association, told attendees at the virtual 2021 Annual Meat Conference on Wednesday. This echoes concerns about the new ETS within the Meatpacking community: possible further regulation might slow down the production again, months after the coronavirus disrupted packaging plants around the country. North American Meat Institution’s spokeswoman Sarah Little told Fox News that regulations like mandatory 6-foot social distancing and N95 masks would definitely affect production. She said industry workers need vaccinations to keep things moving...U.S. customers saw empty fridges at grocery stores last year when meatpacking giants like Tyson had to cut production when the slaughterhouses became coronavirus hot spots. And the prices of beef and other meats will continue to climb, according to a recent report released by U.S. Department of Agriculture. When asked whether the retail price inflation in the meat sector would affect domestic buyers, former USDA economist John Nalivka said a slight increase would be tolerable since meat products have been very affordable in the U.S. “Americans don’t spend a lot of money on food,” Nalivka told Fox News on a phone interview on Friday. “People only spend about 10 to12% of disposable income on food.” John S. Nalivka, who has 30 years of experience in livestock and meat industry consulting, explained that the U.S. has built a very efficient meat industry that allows affordable meat prices. Any “political change” to adjust the industry model on large-scale would lower the efficiency and cause a sharp increase in price, the expert warned...MORE