Standard Issues New food and disability rules pose challenges for small business.
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Hundreds of thousands of independent food retailers,wholesalers, trucking companies and food distributors have a yearand a half before they must comply with the new FDA rule on recordkeeping. Stemming from the 2002 Bioterrorism Act, the rule requirescompanies in the food distribution chain to obtain and recordinformation on products received from suppliers and sold tocustomers.
Food retailers with 10 or more full-time employees must collectincoming data, which must be kept on the premises for six months totwo years, depending on the perishability of the food. (Retailerswith fewer than 10 employees are exempt.) Moreover--and this is thetricky part--food manufacturers must be able to link incomingingredients with outgoing products. The FDA hasn't said howthis should be done, but at a minimum, food manufacturers willprobably have to print lot numbers or other identifying marks onoutgoing products. The requirements go into effect on December 9,2006.
While the FDA estimates compliance will cost companies onlyabout $1,000 a year, another rule brewing at the Department ofJustice could cost small businesses considerably more. Thedepartment's proposed revisions to the Americans withDisabilities Act would force companies to carry out costlyconstruction projects.
The act's design standards specify what areas of a building,for example, must have wheelchair access, and the technicalrequirements for that access. Potential changes to those standardsadopted last July by the Architectural and Transportation BarriersCompliance Board include requiring companies to make employee-onlyareas wheelchair accessible even if there are no employees inwheelchairs, and upping the number of public entrances which mustbe wheelchair accessible from the current requirement of 50 percentto 60 percent. The DOJ is at the start of encoding these guidelinesinto a final rule.
Stephen Barlas is a freelance business reporter who coversthe Washington beat for 15 magazines.
