Overnight Regulation: Senators grill beer giants on merger plan

Welcome to Overnight Regulation, your daily rundown of news from Capitol Hill and beyond. It’s Tuesday evening here in Washington and I’m already ready for Friday. Here’s the latest.

THE BIG STORY

Senators pressed the heads of the world’s top beer producers in a hearing Tuesday for more information on how their proposed merger will affect the competitiveness of a marketplace where craft brewers are thriving.

Anheuser-Busch InBev’s has offered to buy SABMiller for over $100 billion. As part of the deal, Molson Coors has agreed to purchase SABMiller’s remaining interest in MillerCoors.

{mosads}”Wholesalers make decisions everyday on what brands to put on their trucks,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said during the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust hearinh. “I want to make sure consumer choice not producer power drives that decision.”

Carlos Brito, CEO of Anheuser-Busch InBev, said the main goal of the transaction is to expand Anheuser-Busch InBev brands to Africa, Asia and parts of Latin America.

“This transaction is really about the rest of the world,” he said, later adding that there will be no change in the way the company conducts its U.S. business.

Craig Purser, president & CEO of the National Beer Wholesalers Association, however, expressed concerns that Anheuser-Busch InBev will distribute more of its own beer as a result of the merger and terminate its relationship with the independent distributors that are now free to choose which brands to distribute.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) asked Brito if the company could commit to maintaining only 10 percent ownership of distribution. Brito said he could commit to keeping distribution around 10 percent.

“Today, by the way, we are between 7 and 8,” he said “So we said 10. Could be 7 or 8, could be 11 or 12.”

Blumenthal said 11 to 12 percent would be a different situation than 7 to 8 percent ownership.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said lawmakers are most concerned about the increased leverage that a combined company would have and what that might mean for the thriving beer industry, as well as consumer choice and product prices. 

“Obviously the antitrust regulators will be looking at this deal to determine whether there are any anticompetitive aspects that need to be addressed,” he said. “But it’s important that we in Congress have an opportunity to flesh out these concerns.”

ON TAP FOR WEDNESDAY 

House Judiciary’s Immigration and Border Security Subcommittee will hold a hearing to discuss the oversight of U.S. citizenship and immigration services. http://1.usa.gov/1HTlQyx

The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee will hold a business meeting to amend the Notification and Federal Employee Anti-discrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002 to strengthen federal antidiscrimination laws enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and expand accountability within the federal government. http://1.usa.gov/1OS8SjS

The Senate Budget Committee will hold a hearing to examine “moving to a stronger economy through regulatory budgeting.” http://1.usa.gov/1lMUdN4

TOMORROW’S REGS TODAY 

The Obama administration will publish 195 new regulations, proposed rules, notices and other administrative actions in Wednesday’s edition of the Federal Register.

Lamps: The Department of Energy has decided not to move forward with energy conservation standards for high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps.
Under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975, the agency is required to determine if created standards to conserve energy would be technologically feasible, economically justified and would result in significant energy savings.

Pesticides: The Environmental Protection Agency will propose new standards for how much residue from azoxystrobin – a commonly used fungicide – is safe to be on raw quinoa grain, ti leaves and ti roots. The agency also wants to modify how much residue is tolerable for stone fruit group tree nuts, with the exception of pistachios.

NEWS RIGHT NOW

Senators urge colleagues to vote on microbeads bill http://bit.ly/1XZXC7y

White House blasts GOP effort to slow investor rule in omnibus – The Hill’s Peter Schroeder http://bit.ly/1Tznmq8

Boston College: 80 sickened after eating at Chipotle – The AP http://apne.ws/1Ogue7N

Shutdown impact: Federal retirement benefits – The Washington Post http://wapo.st/1HT8i6j

BY THE NUMBERS

Over 100 billion: How much Anheuser-Busch InBev has offered to buy SABMiller.

16,000: How many people are employed by Anheuser-Busch InBev in the U.S. 

4,000: How many breweries there are in the U.S. and District of Columbia. 

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“It’s a national problem that needs a national solution,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said of plastic microbeads in soap that are ending up in the nation’s waterways.

We’ll work to stay on top of these and other stories throughout the week, so check The Hill’s Regulation page (http://digital-staging.thehill.com/regulation) early and often for the latest. And send any comments, complaints or regulatory news tips our way, tdevaney@digital-staging.thehill.com or lwheeler@digital-staging.thehill.com. And follow us at @timdevaney and @wheelerlydia.

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