ORLANDO, FL -- Sylvain Terrault has big plans for HydroSerre Mirabel.

The new president of the Mirabel, QC-based firm, which is renowned for its hydroponic lettuce grown using floating raft technology, told The Produce News here at the Produce Marketing Association's Fresh Summit that after 20 years, "it was time do something different to put the company at the forefront of the industry."

WASHINGTON -- According to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, its Oct. 23 revisions to the final no-match rule will persuade the courts to lift an injunction and allow the government to begin enforcing the controversial law.

But Western Growers Association says not so fast.

The government issued yet another version of the so-called no-match rule earlier this month that requires employers to correct errors that occur when an employee's name and Social Security number do not agree with government records.

ORLANDO, FL -- A panel of three speakers at the Produce Marketing Association's Fresh Summit addressed a discussion of the formula that "Food Safety + Risk Management = Profitability."

The panelists were Bob Whitaker, chief science officer of the Newark, DE- based PMA; Rick Broderick, director of risk management for Harris Corp., based in Melbourne, FL; and Devon Zagory, senior vice president of food- safety and quality programs for NSF Davis Fresh, which is part of NSF International, headquartered in Ann Arbor, MI.

New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Charles M. Kuperus is stepping down. He submitted his resignation Oct. 24 to Gov. Jon S. Corzine, effective Dec. 31, and plans to return to his family's farm in Sussex County, NJ.

ORLANDO, FL -- In January, three produce trade groups sat down with the goal of designing and implementing a plan to realize full field-to-fork traceability at the case level for the entire produce industry. When they were finished, a seven-step plan that aims for industrywide implementation in 2012 had been designed.

Details of the plan and an update on its progress toward implementation were discussed Oct. 25 at the Finding Your Place in Whole Chain Traceability session at the Produce Marketing Association's Fresh Summit Convention & Exposition, here.

ORLANDO, FL -- The 2008 Chilean Fresh Fruit Association North American importers meeting was held here Oct. 24. The meeting, held in conjunction with the Produce Marketing Association's Fresh Summit, included a look at the recent and coming Chilean fruit export season as well as the Chilean association's promotional plans for the 2008-09 marketing season.

Tom Tjerandsen, managing director of the Chilean Fresh Fruit Association USA in Sonoma, CA, described his group's 2009 North American marketing plans as having the four following objectives:

* Increase awareness.