USDA renews produce industry panel for two more years
USDA renews produce industry panel for two more years
WASHINGTON -- The Fruit & Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee will meet for two more years to advise the U.S. Department of Agriculture on government policies that can affect how produce companies do business.
Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns renewed the charter for the four-year-old advisory committee, allowing it to operate until 2007, and is now seeking the names of nominees to help guide the U.S. Department of Agriculture on pressing issues.
As part of the charter, Mr. Johanns will appoint up to 25 committee members who may work as fruit and vegetable growers, shippers, wholesalers, brokers, retailers, processors, fresh-cut processors, foodservice suppliers, or in state departments of agriculture and trade associations. Nominees must get their names into USDA by Sept. 30.
At the end of its periodic meetings, the committee forwards its latest wish list to USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service, a valuable opportunity to go on the record with industry concerns.
At the July 12-13 meeting in Alexandria, VA, the industry weighed in on a range of issues, including federal marketing orders, nutrition policies, pest threats and federal crop insurance inequities.
The committee also gets the chance to hear briefings from top Washington, DC, officials on other matters, such as grade standard reviews, food safety initiatives, PACA program restructuring, agricultural labor legislation, among other things.
Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns renewed the charter for the four-year-old advisory committee, allowing it to operate until 2007, and is now seeking the names of nominees to help guide the U.S. Department of Agriculture on pressing issues.
As part of the charter, Mr. Johanns will appoint up to 25 committee members who may work as fruit and vegetable growers, shippers, wholesalers, brokers, retailers, processors, fresh-cut processors, foodservice suppliers, or in state departments of agriculture and trade associations. Nominees must get their names into USDA by Sept. 30.
At the end of its periodic meetings, the committee forwards its latest wish list to USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service, a valuable opportunity to go on the record with industry concerns.
At the July 12-13 meeting in Alexandria, VA, the industry weighed in on a range of issues, including federal marketing orders, nutrition policies, pest threats and federal crop insurance inequities.
The committee also gets the chance to hear briefings from top Washington, DC, officials on other matters, such as grade standard reviews, food safety initiatives, PACA program restructuring, agricultural labor legislation, among other things.
