The Consumer Brands Association (CBA), the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP), and researchers from Iowa State University, released a report this week detailing policy recommendations to strengthen private sector supply chains.  

CBA, which launched the Critical Infrastructure Supply Chain Council last year, worked with the CSCMP and the university to detail policies, as well as create a series of recommendations, about how to improve the supply chain. The report is based on data collected from 25 supply chain thought leaders, research, government documents and NGO documents.

Issues in the food and beverage industry supply chain have become magnified in the last year, first with COVID-19 and more recently with winter storms in Texas. The report proposed several policy recommendations meant to strengthen the industrys ability to respond to catastrophic incidents.

Some of those recommendations include:

• Create a White House Office of Supply Chain to more effectively coordinate and integrate supply chain policies
• Reform immigration policies to build a talent pipeline
• Develop new funding mechanisms to meet the long-term needs of freight transportation
• Establish a framework to accommodate quickly emerging innovative vehicle technologies

Reps. Brad Schneider (D-IL-10) and Dusty Johnson (R-SD-AL) recently introduced H.R. 1024 to establish such an office to address persistent concerns stemming from COVID-19.

“Between COVID-19, winter storms and more, there’s mounting awareness that we need to take action to shore up our supply chains,” said Tom Madrecki, vice president of supply chain and logistics at Consumer Brands. “Strategic policymaking and strong government leadership is a critical piece of that. Consumer Brands looks forward to working with all partners, including Reps. Schneider and Johnson, to get America’s supply chains on the right track.”