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Show Thursday, October - WASHINGTON The government could start the process of g banning several suspected . cancer-causin- pesticides in food as early as next spring under an agreement announced today. The agreement is part of a court - Chicago Tribune "I am pleased that EPA has reached this proposed agreement, the Clinton ad- ministration's commitment to reduce pesticide use and ensure a safe food supply," EPA Administrator Carol Browner said. The industry group says the De- settlement that must be approved by U.S. District Judge William Schubb in Sacramento, Calif. The agreement, which could be signed as early as Dec. 2 if not challenged by industry, would create a schedule for resolving a ;riajor dispute over pesticide regulation. At issue are pesticides that show up in processed foods such as raisins, cooking oil, tomato paste and flour in greater concentrations than in their raw ingredients: grapes, soybeans, tomatoes and wheat. A 1992 court ruling said those processed foods can have no trace of pesticides found to cause tumors in animals or people, regardless of how small the actual risk of cancer. The ruling dealt with a 1958 section of food law, the Delaney Clause, enacted before scientists could detect increasingly minute amounts of chemicals in products. Residues in raw foods such as apples and tomatoes are regulated by a different standard that allows some risk, weighed along with the benefits to consumers and agriculture. In practice, a pesticide that fails to meet the "zero risk" standard for tomato paste, for example, can't be allowed on whole tomatoes because there's no way to tell how the tomatoes will be used. The agreement calls for the En- - - By GEORGE GUNSET vironmental Protection Agency to rule within 60 days of settlement on a 1992 petition by the National Food Processors Association to cut the tie between rules for raw and processed foods. which continues laney standard was intended for food additives such as preserva- tives, not pesticides. Moreover, regulations should consider whether the processed foods are used as ingredients or eaten whole, said Juanita Duggan, the group's senior vice president for governmental affairs. "Nobody eats flour," she said. "But people do eat raisins " If the EPA refuses, it will take steps to ban the use of up to 36 chemicals on about 140 raw and processed foods. The first proposals would be announced in six months and cover 18 pesticides in some 60 processed foods. Those uses would be banned within two years, and the remainder within five. . "If carried out, some ' When Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy accepted gifts worth a few thousand dollars from companies his department regulates, the decision may have cost him more than just a Cabinet job. At age 40, the first African American in the agricultural post and former Mississippi congressman was a hot prospect to be invited, after leaving office, to serve on the boards of the country's biggest companies, particularly those with major interests in food and agribusiness. There is no indication the ambitious Espy, with his eye reportedly on a U.S. Senate seat or the Mississippi governorship in the future, had any desire to be tied to such big companies. He did, however, have all the credentials. Had he wanted to, Espy in a few years probably could have been pulling in annual fees in the neigh Page C9 borhood of $4 1 ,000 from Caterpillar Inc. or $51 ,000 from ConAgra Inc. as outside director. Espy need only ask a predeces- sor, Clayton Yeutter, 63, who draws retainers and meeting fees that can total $75,000 from Texas Instruments Inc., $29,000 from FMC Corp. and $24,000 from wich, Conn., corporate governance data research provider and consulting firm, tell why Espy would be in demand: Of the 7,190 board members listed for the 821 largest publicly owned U.S. corporations, only 149 are black. (There are 30 Asians and 67 Only a handful of directors serve on that many boards. Peter Garrett, senior vice president of Directorship and publisher of its monthly newsletter, said the firm's research found 36 directors of the nation's largest companies "who sit on 10 or more corporate boards. His-panic- Vi-go- ro Corp. Added to that would be fees collected as a director of B.A.T. Industries PLC, Lindsay Manufac- turing Co. and mutual funds advised by Oppenheimer Fund Management Corp. Yeutter, who once served as president of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, has a resume that includes U.S. Trade Representative in the Reagan administration, Agriculture Secretary in the Bush administration and a fairly short stint as chairman of the Republican Party. A few stark figures, gleaned from Directorship Inc., a Green "When there is a director's post coming vacant, most companies now look for qualified people who sit on no more than three pr four boards," Garrett said. "They want directors who can devote a fair amount of time to corporate affairs." Being a good friend of the chief And the average age for a director is 63. And perceived influence in Washington is always welcome in the boardroom. Washington insiders sit on a large number of boards. They include the likes of Vernon Jordan, a executive is no longer the main lawyer, Democratic powerhouse and Friend of Bill. The Directorship research firm found his name listed as director of companies, including Sara Lee Corp. of Chicago. Another prominent name with a whopping 17 directorships, including Quaker Oats, is Frank qualification to join the board, Garrett said. It certainly doesn't hurt, though. 1 1 . , "Institutional stockholders deoutside mand independent-minde- d 1990s the he said. "In directors," we've seen the board toss out top Carlucci, secretary of defense late in the Reagan administration. management at such big companies as General Motors and IBM." jJQMEWEEF it will phase out of the most widely used can- cer causing pesticides from our food supply," said Erik Olson, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, which Six months interest sued EPA in 1989. When looking for Other plaintiffs are the state of the conCalifornia, the AFL-CIsumer group Public Citizen and three farm workers. top-quali- " March 1995 free, payments begin home ty electronics, look to Panasonic. 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