WASHINGTON -- The produce industry is eagerly awaiting news on whether retailers -- a critical voice in the country-of-origin labeling debate -- will support a compromise country-of-origin labeling package that, in turn, would help sell the proposal on Capitol Hill.

The Produce Marketing Association's Fresh Summit International Convention & Exposition is expected to attract over 17,000 attendees from 70 countries and 800 exhibitors when it convenes Nov. 4-8 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.

"We may be an industry steeped in tradition, but we also have our attention focused on the future," said PMA President Bryan Silbermann. "PMA's Fresh Summit reflects the heart and soul of our membership through a diverse program that offers buyers and sellers value they can connect to and take home from Atlanta.

PORTLAND, OR -- According to figures compiled by Pear Bureau Northwest, this season's overall Northwest fresh pear crop is estimated to see an 11 percent increase over that of 2004, with Anjous predicted to be up 21 percent.

Kevin Moffitt, president and CEO of the bureau, said in late July that the 2005-06 crop estimate calls for 18.8 million 44-pound equivalents, up from 17 million in 2004. Moreover, the new crop will exceed the five-year average of 17.7 million boxes by some 6 percent.

An extended heat wave in California that began on June 30 and was finally just beginning to break in mid-August caused some reduction in tomato yields and contributed to a strengthening of market prices beginning in early August.

More significantly, the heat is said to have caused bloom drop in mature greens in the San Joaquin Valley that will cause a dip in production from around mid-August through about mid-September.

PHILADELPHIA -- New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Charles Kuperus visited the Philadelphia Regional Produce Market, here, Aug. 16 to meet with produce distributors and tour the market.

Mr. Kuperus was hosted by broker Chuck Zambito of Zambito Produce Sales in Woodbury, NJ, and accompanied by Al Murray, director of marketing and development for the department.

WASHINGTON -- A congressional panel has asked the U.S. International Trade Commission, for the first time, to investigate and compare between U.S. and foreign suppliers the costs of producing Navel oranges and lemons.

"It has come to the attention of the Committee on Ways & Means that certain U.S. citrus growers are concerned about the competitive conditions affecting certain segments of their industry," Rep. William Thomas (R-CA), chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee, wrote in a letter to the trade commission.