The North American Produce Transportation Working Group (NAPTWG) has released best practice guidelines for the transportation of produce. The document integrates multiple existing transportation guidelines into one best practices document that can be used throughout North America to provide guidance for seamless product movement and to ensure the ongoing vitality of the carrier sector. The guidelines were reviewed and endorsed by the Blue Book and the Dispute Resolution Corporation (DRC) to ensure compliance with industry trading guidelines for North America.

The 25-member NAPTWG represents fresh produce transportation stakeholders from associations and industry groups across North America. The working group is chaired by David Dever, United Fresh Board of Directors member and president and CEO of Sun World International. Dan Vaché, United’s vice president of supply chain management, also provides leadership for the working group.

“The new guidelines represent an incredible volume of work by industry associations and produce organizations involved in the transport of fresh produce,” said Dever. “We all know how crucial ensuring the vitality of our carrier industry is to the long-term viability of the North American produce industry, and this is one tool to support that.”

The NAPTWG compilation of best practice guidelines is intended to be an evolving resource to guide efficiency in produce transportation. The document is available free of charge to the produce industry and carriers at www.naptwg.org.

For more information from Inside United Fresh, visit their website.

To all Georgia Growers and Agribusinesses,

As you know the Georgia House of Representatives has passed House Bill 87 (Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act of 2011).  The fight is now in the Senate!!

The Senate Judiciary Committee passed Senate Bill 40 out of committee last week and we expect it to be on the floor of the Senate for debate as early as Monday of next week.  This weekend is the time to contact your legislators. 

We have been told we have made progress with the Senate leadership and some are asking us to reach out to all Senators.  Our request to you is two-fold,

1. Contact your Senator and let them know your concern from the talking points below,
2. Call or send an email to at least five other Senate Republicans, particularly those north of Macon, expressing your concern over S B 40 and how it will affect the economy in your county.    There are bullet points below to work from. 

If you do not know how to contact your legislator go to:

http://www.votesmart.org/official_state.php?state_id=GA&dist=&go2.x=5&go2.y=8

For a list of all of the Senators:

http://www.votesmart.org/official_state_legislator.php?type=office&state_id=GA&criteria=upper

Talking points for a call or email:

1. Thank the Senator for their service to Georgia, and tell them where you are from and what you grow and/or company operations.
2. Recommend a Study Commission be appointed to look the immigrant labor situation and see what e-verify will do to Georgia’s economy before the legislature throws Georgia’s economy in another tailspin because workers are not available.  Ask them to sit back and take a year to study the impact on Georgia with input from the various industries that are putting people to work. 
3. From a state revenue perspective, all W-2 laborers pay Georgia Income Tax.  This could have an economic impact on budget revenues to the state.     
4. Express concern over the use of the Federal E-verify program because,
   1. Additional cost to do business – training of your employee(s) – manual is 82 pages long.
   2. Concern over economic impact in your community – farms, restaurants, hotels, and other small businesses. 
   3. There are not domestic workers available to do farm work.  It is hot, hard and difficult.
   4. The workers you hire have the proper documentation required under Federal law to work on your farm and you have a completed I-9 for all of them.    
5. The cost of enforcing this legislation will be passed on to local city and county governments.   Kentucky prepared a fiscal impact statement showing that an AZ-type immigration law would cost that state a net $40 million a year in new costs for local jails, state prisons, the foster-care system, the administrative offices of the courts and public defenders.  It is estimated the number of undocumented workers in is 455,000 as compared to Kentucky at 50,000.  That $40 million could be $360 million for Georgia. 

1. Many legislators counter that agriculture has H2A available if there is a worker shortage.  H2A is available but there is a 60 day lead time for a petition for workers, advertising, housing and transportation requirements.  These regulations do not allow for a quick response to a worker shortage. 
2. Additional talking points for your consideration: http://aghost.net/images/e0191701/Reasons_to_avoid_an_Everify_mandate.pdf  

ACTION REQUESTED!!

Please contact your Senator and at least five other Republican Senators by phone or email this weekend. 

Please feel free to contact our office if you have any questions – 1-706-845-8200.

Charles Hall,

Executive Director,

Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association

Hands-on Training Delivers Tangible Benefits for Buyers, Shippers, Receivers & More

United Fresh and the USDA have geared up to offer three more of the popular Produce Inspection Training Course in 2011. Presented through the Foundation’s Center for Food Safety & Quality, these hands-on training sessions are designed to help produce industry members learn the core fundamentals of the produce inspection process. Taught by expert USDA trainers, attendees will leave the course with a comprehensive understanding of USDA inspection procedures and standards. The course combines classroom lectures, discussions and lab training to ensure a maximized educational experience.

From Grower-Shippers to Retailers – Find out why over 700 industry members have made this program a core part of their company’s training.

 The Produce Inspection Training Program is divided into two specialized courses. The two-day Fundamentals Course focuses on topics such as inspection essentials, PACA, sampling procedures, and general market principles. The three-day Commodity Labs applies the principals learned in the fundamentals course to real product inspections. Each Commodity Labs course includes Grapes, Lettuces, Potatoes, Strawberries and Tomatoes and is customized with up to seven additional commodities based on attendees’ most common preferences.

The following course options are available in 2011:

1. January 10-11, 2011         Fundamentals of Inspection
2. January 12-14, 2011         Commodity Labs
3. January 10-14, 2011         Both Courses
4. May 16-17, 2011              Fundamentals of Inspection
5. May 18-20, 2011              Commodity Labs
6. May 16-20, 2011              Both Courses
7. September 12-13, 2011    Fundamentals of Inspection
8. September 14-16, 2011    Commodity Labs
9. September 12-16, 2011    Both Courses

REGISTER TODAY!

Be Recall Ready

Preparing Georgia Fruit & Vegetable Producers for Recalls

August 10, 2010

8:00 a.m. – 6 p.m.

UGA Conference Center, 15 RDC Road, Tifton, GA

The Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association is partnering with Dr. David Gombas of United Fresh Produce Association and Amy Philpott of Watson and Mulhern to offer a FULL day of preparing Georgia’s producers for recalls in the produce industry. This hands-on educational course will help growers and shippers be recall ready with an understanding of the fundamentals of produce recalls. Longer traceability workshops have been offered in the past but have been too expensive for most producers to attend. And many Georgia producers can’t afford to be away from the farm for more than a day. This workshop was been condensed from a two day course into one day of intense education and training.

This INVALUABLE workshop should not be missed!

Registered TODAY!

Do you know IF and WHEN your company needs to issue a recall?

WHAT DO YOU DO if a recall is issued about your produce or commodity?

HOW DOES YOUR FARM RECOVER QUICKLY during and after a recall?

These experts will help answer these essential questions and many more.

• FDA Atlanta District Recall Coordinator, Mr. Arnold Best, will share exactly what the FDA expects during a recall, what is covered in an on-farm FDA inspection and how to make it all go away quicker
• Mr. David Durkin of Olsson, Frank and Weeda law firm, will shed light on your rights and responsibilities as well as how to limit your liability in the midst of a recall
•  Mr. David Gombas, Senior Vice President of Food Safety and Technology with United Fresh Produce Association, will educate on the fundamentals of a product recall and the importance of traceability
•  Mrs. Amy Philpott of Watson and Mulhern is an expert in communicating during a recall and will share invaluable information on managing customer expectations

All this will culminate with a hands-on traceability exercise to put the knowledge to the test.

Sponsors for the GREAT Educational Series, Be Recall Ready:

The committee, on which Gombas represents North America, is staffed by 18 volunteer grower and retailer representatives from around the world.

“GlobalGAP has developed a formula for harmonizing GAPs standards that has worked for years,” said Gombas. “For the past year, GlobalGAP held stakeholder meetings around the world, soliciting recommendations from all stakeholders in an open and transparent process. The Sector Committee reviews all of those comments, and changes are made where the recommendations make sense for a global market.”

Gombas is participating on the Fruit and Vegetable Sector Committee to facilitate alignment between the GlobalGAP standard and the North American produce industry’s Produce GAPs Harmonization Initiative.   GlobalGAP is similarly participating in the Produce GAPs Harmonization Initiative in an effort to develop a North American interpretation guideline for GlobalGAP audits.

For more information about GlobalGAP, please contact Dr. David Gombas at dgombas@unitedfresh.org or 202-303-3400, ext. 411. For more information about the Produce GAPs Harmonization Initiative, please contact United’s Erin Grether at egrether@unitedfresh.org or at 202-303-3400, ext. 402.

Source:   Inside United Fresh, June 17, 2010 

The Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association offers a unique membership benefit with the Georgia Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) Food Safety Program. We offer food safety education and consultation through:  

• One-on-one mock audits in the field and packing facility
• Assisting in the set up and development of food safety programs, SOPs and documentation, and
• Conducting 3^rd party food safety audits for the Georgia GAP Food Safety Program and affiliated audits through Primus Labs

 We can help you with tips to begin your food safety program, find resources to enhance your farm or packing facility, or find continuing education for the latest food safety developments. 

 Click HERE for a GA GAP Food Safety Application

“I think we wanted to make it clear that any decision on who should or should not have to comply with food safety requirements needs to be risk and science based standard, not based on scale of your operation or proximity to your customers,” said Robert Guenther, senior vice president for public policy at United Fresh.

The letter comes on the heels of this week’s report from the Institute of Medicine recommending that a risk-based standard should be implemented to our federal government’s food safety regulatory scheme.

“This letter serves as an important message to Congress that we need to ensure that consumer confidence is regained in our federal government’s food safety system,” said Guenther.  “If Congress goes down the route of carve-outs, it risks losing support from both produce groups as well as consumer advocates.”  

Source:   Inside United Fresh, June 10, 2010