The Texas Produce Association will now be known as the Texas International Produce Association to more accurately reflect the nature of the produce industry in the Lone Star State.

"Over the years, our industry has undergone a fundamental transformation," Ed Bertaud, chairman of the association and director of business development for IFCO's Pallet Management Services Division, said in an Aug. 15 press release announcing the change. "The board has recognized that it's time to update the name of our association to more accurately reflect the international reality of our business and better define the full breadth of our members' role.

"I don't believe there has been a time in our history when the fruit and vegetable industry worldwide faced more difficult challenges, or had more promising opportunities," Mr. Bertaud continued in the press release. "The two are opposite sides of the same coin. You can sit down and make a very long list of the hurdles we have to deal with -- it's intimidating. It runs the gamut from drought to devastating diseases to foodborne illness to truck shortages to trade disputes between governments, and I'm just scratching the surface. But we all understand that we have to meet those challenges, because if we don't, the guy in the next company, or country, will do it for us. One of the most effective tools we have is our associations, because they enable us to speak with a single compelling voice. They bring our political muscle. The changes we are making in the Texas association will allow it to face the coming decade with the focus and staffing appropriate to the task."

Along with the name change, the board kicked off a new initiative called the Border Issues Management Program, or BIMP.

"There are serious forecasts that infrastructure improvements in Mexico and transportation costs from the Rocky Mountains east will drive a steep increase in the movement of product through Texas -- as much as a doubling in the near future," John McClung, president and chief executive officer of the association, said in the press release. "Last year, we brought in some 140,000 semi loads of fresh produce through Texas, about 98,000 across the Pharr/Reynosa Bridge. This volume growth is coming at the same time federal inspectors at the ports of entry are being stressed to the maximum, with no realistic hope for more personnel or laboratory capacity. Meanwhile, the Food Safety Modernization Act, the necessary push to prevent the introduction of invasive pests, and the ongoing mission to keep out undocumented individuals and drugs, combine to make the government's job all the more difficult, perhaps impossible.

"Fresh fruit and vegetable imports from Mexico are a $5.5 billion a year industry, and its growing rapidly," Mr. McClung continued. "In the last few years, Texas has become the largest importer of fresh Mexican produce. In fact, some 65 percent of the produce Texas supplies to the U.S. marketplace is grown in Mexico."

Mr. McClung emphasized that the association would continue to vigorously pursue the interests of domestic grower-shippers as it has since 1942. "Make no mistake," he said. "The synergy between the domestic and international components will only make us a stronger and more effective force for both as the industry continues to evolve."

"We are looking at a recipe for gridlock and we have to do everything imaginable to get ready," Mr. Bertaud added in the press release. "The BIMP will play a crucial role in addressing the specific challenges our importers face, and help them be positioned for success in the future. Meanwhile, we will adjust staff to ensure our domestic obligations are met from one end of our very big state to the other."