WASHINGTON — With funding for the government still in flux and the Republican leadership in turmoil, United Fresh Produce Association members marched off to Capitol Hill Sept. 29 at a critical time with a short list of legislative demands, ranging from immigration reform to school nutrition mandates.

“This is when we get to speak with a unified message,” said Brian Kocher, chairman of United Fresh and chief operating officer at Castellini & Co. LLC. “This is my favorite event of the calendar.”

Kocher acknowledged that sometimes the produce industry’s message needs to be voiced repeatedly, but that’s part of the process.

The 500-plus attendees kicked off the meeting with insights from Gen. Michael Hayden, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency, who spoke about the ever increasing threats from terrorists and failed states.

After that, it was a discussion on the top policy issues affecting produce businesses.

Forty-three teams of produce leaders in the House and 24 teams in the Senate walked to Capitol Hill with messages on school nutrition policy, immigration reform, California emergency drought legislation, highway funding and fair trade.

Though not on the legislative agenda, United Fresh held two sessions delving into the latest developments with the Food Safety Modernization Act as the Food & Drug Administration just released the first two of seven regulations earlier this month.

One of the issues raised at the meeting was the FDA’s handling of packinghouses, some of which will fall under the preventive controls while others will need to comply with the upcoming produce-safety regulations due out by Oct. 31.

FDA believes these packinghouses will adhere to similar controls, no matter which regulation they fall under.

“We’re trying to make the regulations as similar as possible,” said FDA Policy Analyst Ester Bleicher.

But an attendee complained that most operations will fall under the more costly preventive controls where “there’s a number of things” businesses will need to do, while on-farm packinghouses will not.

Bleicher said one of the biggest differences is that operations under the preventive controls will need to document all controls, and may need to conduct environmental monitoring.

An industry member said he’s concerned that growers who want to do the right thing will opt for a “conservative” interpretation of the rules and go overboard with implementing preventive controls to make sure they’re in compliance.

Later, Bob Ehart, senior policy adviser at the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, discussed the problems facing states in implementing the new food-safety law, and that NASDA is still opposed to the latest version of water standards in the yet-to-be-final produce rule.

Besides food safety, United Fresh held sessions on genetically modified produce and global trade issues.

Produce companies should keep tabs of the GMO debate, even if their commodities are not produced with the technology because seeds may be, Charles Conner, chief executive officer of National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, cautioned during one of the breakout sessions.

With a Vermont mandatory GMO labeling law coming in effect next July, a coalition of industry groups is advocating for a voluntary labeling bill that passed the House but has yet to be taken up in the Senate.

Conner predicted an industry-backed Senate bill would be introduced next month by Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND), and he suggested the Obama administration will unveil a new initiative on climate change, which is another reason why GMOs are important as a pesticide reduction policy.

The most litigated food fight in recent years, the GMO battle is likely to spread past Vermont to other states because consumers want to know, said Scott Faber, vice president of the Environmental Working Group.

This is not about a warning on products, he said, just a “simple, non-judgmental disclosure on the back of the package.”

On trade issues, Mark Powers, executive vice president of the Northwest Horticultural Council, said his number one trade priority is to maintain access to the 60 countries the industry has access to right now.

A loss of Mexico due to an anti-dumping case, or if India shuts down a key port, hurts businesses, Powers said, adding that the process of advancing interests to government in neither easy nor quick.

John Keeling, executive vice president and CEO of the National Potato Council, said his group has brought on consultants to help the U.S. Department of Agriculture wade through technical issues.