Joan Archer

Firm/Organization: Husch Blackwell LLP
Blogs: Food & Ag Law Insights, Technology, Manufacturing & Transportation Industry Insider

Latest Articles

Fall is just about here. Autumn leaves, apple cider and, of course, football! Also, being traditionally the start of the new school year, fall is a time when start-ups dig in, push hard and perhaps even undertake a little self-reflection and planning, rushing to get things done before the holidays. I recently commented on some key issues that start-ups who were attending Techweek last week here in Kansas City, where I live and work, should…
Football season is upon us again and, with it, the excitement, the thrill of moving the ball forward for a touchdown, and the agony of defeat.  Ups and downs like this are what most start-ups experience. In football, it is important to protect the ball, to play good defense, and to avoid penalties.  Similarly, start-ups need to protect their assets, defend their intellectual property, and avoid incurring unnecessary costs in the future.  Following a few…
Earlier this week, the FDA published three anticipated waivers to the Food Safety Modernization Act’s Sanitary Transportation of Human and Animal Food Rule. The waivers may be of interest to certain shippers, carriers, and receivers of Grade “A” milk and milk products, food establishments that transport food, and businesses that transport molluscan shellfish. Under Section 416(d) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, FDA can waive the requirements of the Sanitary Transportation Rule if…
On July 14th, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) published a final rule amending the food facility registration requirement originally implemented under the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002.  The final rule includes a number of changes that are designed to improve the accuracy of the food facility registration database.  It also amends the retail food establishments definition, expanding the number of establishments that are considered retail food establishments…
Husch Blackwell’s precision agriculture team continues to work with clients and industry representatives on important legal and risk management issues related to the collection, management, ownership, protection and use of agricultural data.  Joan Archer was recently quoted in an article on the use of farm data published by Country Guide, Canada’s oldest farm publication. Additional information about Husch Blackwell’s precision agriculture team, including recent industry updates is available at Husch Blackwell’s Food and…
As is often the case with Congress, deadlines spur action. For the majority of the year, Congress has been working to repeal mandatory country of origin labeling (COOL) on imported meats, with the House passing a stand-alone bill in the spring. With the World Trade Organization (“WTO”) set to authorize tariffs of over $1 billion on U.S. food exports within the next few days, Congress finally acted by including the repeal of COOL within the…
As the deadline draws closer for Congressional action preempting state laws mandating GMO food labeling, which are set to take effect next year, a late lobbying push to include a policy rider in the Omnibus appropriations legislation fell short of meeting the goal of some in the industry of a national GMO labeling compromise. The text of the bill, unveiled early Wednesday morning, is silent on broader GMO food labeling requirements. A provision aimed at…
On September 28, 2015, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on animal drug compounding. The GAO reviewed and analyzed regulation of animal drug compounding and concluded that FDA oversight could be strengthened, and recommended that executive action be taken to: (1) modify the adverse event reporting form to detect more adverse events arising…
September was a busy month for the Husch Blackwell Animal Health Team.  We started the month attending the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor Investment Forum, which featured a variety of companies that hope to bring a wide range of new products and innovations to the animal health industry.   Later in the month, we attended a Legal, Regulatory and Compliance Forum on Animal Health, which was held in New York City.  The conference…
In Part 1 of this blog, I discussed the question of data ownership and data protection obligations in precision agriculture.  More specifically, I noted that all parties along the field to fork chain should give careful consideration to whether farm data likely will be generated at some point in the process and, if so, who is entitled to own or control the data and what data protection obligations exist as a result.  In Part 2, I…