NOGALES, AZ — Common issues shared by the Nogales produce community and the United Fresh Produce Association membership were discussed at a United Town Hall meeting, here, Feb. 24.

Tom Stenzel, president and chief executive officer of United Fresh, met in a Nogales restaurant with about 50 members of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas to discuss and interact with the Nogales produce distributors.Matt Mandel, vice president of SunFed and chairman of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas, with Lance Jungmeyer, FPAA president.

FPAA President Lance Jungmeyer, who presided over the meeting, said, “We share a lot of issues” with United membership. “There is a lot of cross membership” between the two organizations.

Stenzel said Nogales was one of his first destinations when he became United president 21 years ago. Those “were very difficult times” because the Florida tomato industry was resisting the importation of Mexican tomatoes.

“I’m sorry you’re still dealing with a suspension agreement” involving the export of Mexican tomatoes to the United States, he said to attendees.

Today, “food safety is the biggest issue to face the industry,” Stenzel said. In the produce industry,Walter Ram, vice president of food safety for Giumarra, with Tom Stenzel, president of United Fresh Produce Association, and Chuck Ciruli of Ciruli Bros. LLC. the Food Safety Modernization Act “will touch everyone in some way.”

FSMA’s first set of final regulations (applying to facilities) will be published Aug. 31, 2015. On Oct. 31 the final regulations for produce safety will be published. This will include new rules regarding imported produce safety. With that looming, questions surround foreign verification.

Stenzel said, for example, that it’s unclear if the Mexican government will be offering verification services. If that role goes to independent third-party inspectors paid by grower-exporters, exactly where will the inspectors’ allegiances lie?

Importers of record will face legal and criminal responsibility under FSMA, he noted. As a result, “We have major chains today that are stepping away from being the importer of record.”

Stenzel also addressed social accountability with the Nogales audience. He acknowledged that Mexican growers have made great strides to be fair to their employees. Stenzel does not favor a whole new set of inspections and qualifications on the social responsibility front. He praised the recent creation of the Mexican association for social responsibility.

United is talking with retailers about establishing standards that must be “culturally sensitive” and at a level that “we as consumers would be proud” to support. He added, “This is not just a Mexican issue” but involves products from around the world and from the United States.

Banana companies are ahead of this game, he said, having long-dealt with socially responsible employment matters in the tropics.

Stenzel said United leadership tells “retailers that they need to hold all producers to the same standards, even if the small growers don’t fall under the law.”

Stenzel reminded the crowd that on Feb. 28 the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will officially run out of money from the federal government. As a result, the Customs & Border Protection personnel will not be paid after that date, but by law they will continue to be required to work.

“You may see some disruption” at the Mexican border in March because of a work slowdown, Stenzel warned.

This is a pronounced example of the stalemate caused by non-compromise between the left and right in Washington, DC, Stenzel noted.

After the Republicans claimed the House and Senate last fall, Stenzel said he is “a little optimistic that this year we will see compromises” begin to come out of Washington.

The national political stalemate has gripped U.S. immigration policy for 10 or 15 years, he noted.

Beyond potential stiff new U.S. penalties that may be faced by U.S. growers through new national legislation, United membership is concerned about a declining pool of workers from Mexico.

Stenzel noted that the Mexican economy is improving and creating better jobs for its citizens as the Mexican per-capita birth rate declines. This will mean there won’t be so much competition for jobs in Mexico.

Thus, U.S. agricultural employers can be expected “to be pressed for labor.”

Stenzel noted that a guest worker program may be a good solution to this problem, noting that it is working very well for Canadian growers.