WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture has agreed to delay collection of new inspection fees for Canadian shipments coming across the U.S. border, but Canadian authorities are still pressing for the rule to be withdrawn.

PLANT CITY, FL -- The Florida Strawberry Growers Association announced that Charles F. (Chip) Hinton's employment as executive director of the association has been discontinued effective Nov. 30, 2006, and that an effort is currently underway to locate a qualified replacement.

In the interim, Erin Best, member services director for the association, has been named acting executive director.

PHILADELPHIA -- Pennsylvania Sen. Michael Stack was named the recipient of the annual Friend of Chile Award at a Nov. 16 luncheon at the Hyatt Hotel, here.

The luncheon was attended by nearly 200 industry members and was presented by the Chilean & American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia. The hotel ballroom appropriately overlooked the Delaware River, which last season received more than 60 percent of the fresh Chilean fruit exported to the United States.

Salinas, CA-based strawberry grower-shipper Blazer Wilkinson LP recently completed construction of a new 25,000-square-foot distribution center in Easton, MD, that will provide overnight shipping to customers up and down the Eastern Seaboard and as far west as Indiana.

Produce Alliance, headquartered in Nashville, TN, has added Creation Gardens to its membership.

"Creation Gardens is a very unique company that has been bringing outstanding quality and value to its customers over the past nine years," Russ Wingo, director of sales and marketing for Produce Alliance, said in a statement. "Creation Gardens cares about a customer's needs. They have proven that they will do whatever it takes to make the customer satisfied with their service. They are a great match for Produce Alliance."

Western Growers Association has responded to requests from buyers and others for a plan to improve food safety and has publicly outlined the actions the association and its members are taking with regard to food safety concerns.