Regulatory

Efforts by Congress to ease the federal regulatory burdens on business could have a big impact on all aspects of the packaging industry. Rep. David McIntosh (R-IN), a leader in the deregulation efforts, outlined a three-phase process.

A new study on the costs and benefits of a national bottle bill conducted for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concluded that the social benefits of deposit legislation would slightly outweigh the costs-provided a least-cost system were adopted.

Pace Foods, the San Antonio-based salsa producer, has gotten a lot of mileage out of a series of television commercials emphasizing its Tex-Mex heritage and deriding the competition's product for being made "in New York City?!!" In the same vein, Chi-Chi's, Inc., the Mexican restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, KY, has an amusing TV commercial for its retail-packed salsa in which the ceo of some unnamed competitor asks his managers whether the company should make salsa or oven mitts.

"We have been fighting a defensive battle for a long time," said Richard Thornburg, director of government relations for the Flexible Packaging Association (FPA), in assessing the impact of the November elections.