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Influencing Congress: The Stilton Trade Case

Influencing Congress: The Stilton Trade Case . The Stilton Cheese Case. The home government is hearing concerns from industry that new inspection regulations being considered by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration under the Food Safety Modernization Act may negatively impact exports of

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Influencing Congress: The Stilton Trade Case

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  1. Influencing Congress: The Stilton Trade Case

  2. The Stilton Cheese Case The home government is hearing concerns from industry that new inspection regulations being considered by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration under the Food Safety Modernization Act may negatively impact exports of Blue Stilton cheese from the U.K. to the U.S.

  3. The Stilton Cheese Case They have asked you to look into the matter!

  4. Identify the Problem To develop our strategy, we need to understand the problem: What does the regulation do? Who is being impacted? How are they being impacted? Who is issuing the regulation? Under what authority is the regulation being issued?

  5. Strategy Formulation • What is our overall goal? • What is the “ask”? What are the risks? • Have you explained the issue to Capitol and provided recommendations on next steps? Do you have lines/authorisation from internal stakeholders, e.g. Capitol, Embassy leadership? • Identify external stakeholders and outreach targets. • Keep the message simple and targeted.

  6. Who to Target? As part of our successful strategy, we need to: 1) Identify who our decision makers are 2) How they make decisions

  7. Congress Who are the relevant committees with jurisdiction over trade and agriculture? • House Ways and Means Committee • House Agriculture Committee • Senate Finance Committee • Senate Agriculture Committee • Identify other Members of Congress who might have an interest

  8. Administration - Food and Drug Administration - Customs and Border Protection - USTR—jurisdiction over international trade USDA—Food Safety and Inspection Service Note: be sensitive to agencies and their business culture

  9. Other Interested Members of Congress? Q: Are there other potentially interested parties? Identify other Members of Congress who might have an interest in the issue of dairy trade generally Members with large dairy interests in their states and districts

  10. Build Coalitions/ Understand Opponents Is their a relevant Caucus? (House Dairy Caucus) Other interest groups we should speak to? Example: other cheese imports this new rule might impact?

  11. Intervention Level • Determine what level of intervention the situation warrants, e.g. HMA, DCM, Counsellor, First Sec? • Decision will be impacted by: • who the meeting is with (Member of Congress vs. staffer); • timing/has the ground work be laid? • existing relationships; • other sensitivities.

  12. Media • Decide if a media strategy should be implemented • Weigh pros and cons • Consult with Embassy Comms/Press team

  13. Scheduling (and other headaches) Importance of schedulers (Hint: they run Washington) Check the schedule—is the Congress in session? Note: Hill meetings are often met with interruptions

  14. Timing • Congressional activity/ action forcing mechanism • Close in time to the vote on legislation is ideal (but leave sufficient time for internal process to work) • This is when legislators are most focused on an issue.

  15. Preparation: Know Your Audience! • In preparing for your meeting, research: • Constituent Interest • Member’s Personal Interest • Previous votes and legislation Co-sponsored?

  16. Getting Your Message Across • Be clear and concise • Give clear options for action • Leave behinds • Calibrate level of detail • Be direct but respectful • Make it memorable • MOST IMPORTANT—DO THE WORK FOR THEM

  17. Relationships Are Key • Cultivate relationships with key Hill and Administration staff in advance • Examples: Attend networking events which other trade folks Attend (WITA is an excellent example) Inviting Congressional and Administration contacts to Embassy events (establishing a relationship in a more social setting can be more conducive) Introductory calls on staff when you first arrive at Post.

  18. Outcome • Need to realistically assess risks and possible outcomes at the outset. • Reassess periodically. • Congress has many competing priorities and is influenced by many different groups. • Relay outcome to Capitol, develop messaging for stakeholders.

  19. Keeping up with Trade Resources: - Inside U.S. Trade • Congress Daily • Washington Trade Daily - World Trade Interactive - www.WITA.org!

  20. Thank You! Andy Olson Anne Ruhle Collett Senior Trade and Government Senior Trade Policy Advisor, Relations Advisor Global Issues Group Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A. British Embassy1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, 3100 Massachusetts Ave, NW Suite 400   Washington, D.C. 20004 Washington, D.C. 20008Tel:202-730-4958  Tel: (202) 588 6683 C:202-657-1133 FTN: 8430 6683 F:202-842-2247 Fax: (202) 588-7901 aolson@strtrade.comanne.collett@fconet.fco.gov.uk www.strtrade.comhttp://blogs.fco.gov.uk/roller/ukinusa

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