WASHINGTON — Legislation to limit credit card transaction fees would reduce costs to consumers and make the overall system fairer, says the Food Marketing Institute.

"This law gives retailers a seat at the table to negotiate fair and reasonable transaction fees with credit card companies," said John J. Motley III, the Food Marketing Institute's senior vice president of government and public affairs. "It would put an end to the anti-competitive and anti-consumer system in which the credit card company networks fix these fees in secret with impunity."

Last week, Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) introduced a bill to require major card brands to negotiate with merchants to reach an interchange settlement. If they can't reach an agreement, they'd have to submit to binding arbitration by a three-judge panel appointed by the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission.