NASDA News--Oct. 20, 2008

NASDA'S USA PAVILION AT THE 11TH AMERICAS FOOD & BEVERAGE SHOW A SUCCESS
Published: October 20, 2008

       The 11th America's Food & Beverage show--the only food trade event dedicated to trade within the Western Hemisphere--took place from September 24 to 26 at the Miami Beach Convention Center.  Featuring national pavilions from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Caribbean, Italy, Canada, and the United States, the event showcased hundreds of food products for food service and retail applications.
       This year's show highlights included a new Florida pavilion, a reception that was hosted for FAS-sponsored buyers, a new products showcase, the annual chefs' competition, and the food & beverage awards ceremony which recognized exhibitors showing outstanding products. These highlighted events allowed industry leaders to explore new ideas on food preparation and display, and gave them the opportunity to preview items that consumers from their countries will want to see on the shelves of their grocery stores or on their plates at their favorite restaurants.
       This one-of-a-kind food show generates a buzz among the industry because the region it covers boasts a selection of traditional commodities, along with fresh, new products that have recently emerged in the marketplace. The 5,868 attendees from 87 countries saw a wide range of products including baked goods, ethic foods, dairy products, meat, poultry and seafood, fresh fruits and vegetables, and organic and natural health foods.
       In addition to the exhibits and new products displays, the Americas Food and Beverage show featured seminars and meetings about better servicing and packaging products, computer systems to track inventory and production, processing, warehousing, and other subjects affecting the food industry. 
       Sponsored by NASDA and the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), USA Pavilion exhibitors included the Illinois, Louisiana, Georgia, and Minnesota departments of agriculture, enterprise Florida, the U.S. Dairy Export Council, the Southern U.S. Trade Association (SUSTA), and the U.S. Meat Export
       The 2009 Americas Food & Beverage Show featuring the USA Pavilion will be held next November 9 to 10 at the Miami Beach Convention Center.  This is a great opportunity for U.S. companies to explore and expand trade opportunities in the lucrative Caribbean, Central American, and South American markets.  (Contact DeWitt Ashby or Megan McDonald)

AGRICULTURE PANELS EXAMINE REGULATION OF CREDIT DERIVATIVES
Published: October 20, 2008

       Both the House and Senate Agriculture Committees held hearings last week to review the role of credit derivatives in the U.S. economy, and the role they may have played in the recent credit and financial crisis affecting markets around the world. Additional hearings and legislation are expected.
       On October 14, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) called for strengthening regulation over futures contracts. Last month, Harkin joined Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) in introducing legislation to prevent excessive speculation and price manipulation in U.S. energy and agricultural markets. He now plans to introduce legislation that would regulate swaps and other financial derivatives that are traded with virtually no regulation or transparency. Harkin said "regulating these contracts is akin to employing the same sound economic policies used by businesses everyday--know what you're buying, the reliability of your seller, and if they have the assets to fulfill the transaction."
       The House Agriculture Committee held a hearing on October 15 on regulation of derivatives markets. Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) said "we need to get a handle on these credit default swaps and determine the regulatory modifications that are needed to minimize the systemic risk to the economy that I am concerned they pose right now." He said "there is an estimated $55 trillion in credit default swaps somewhere out there, but no one knows for sure if any of these swaps offset each other, exactly who is on the hook for these swaps, who is trading with who and on what terms."  (Contact: Charlie Ingram)

USDA ISSUES PROGRESS REPORT ON FARM BILL IMPLEMENTATION
Published: October 20, 2008

       USDA reports the following actions have been taken toward implementation of the 2008 farm bill. The 2008 farm bill has 15 titles--and more than 600 provisions: 50 percent more than the 2002 farm bill. 
       Farm Programs:
       *  $1.725 million Direct and Counter-Cyclical Payments (DCP) contracts enrolled to date. Anticipating a total of 1.775 million contracts for the 2008 crop year when all data is collated.
       *  $750 million in advance DCP payments to producers who requested the advance funds. During the week of October 5, 2008, the balance of $4.3 billion in DCP payments were issued.  For 2009, USDA anticipates beginning the issuance of over $1.1 billion in advance DCP payments in December 2008. However, the bulk of that funding will go out in calendar year 2009 as most producers do not sign up until after the first of the year.
       Conservation Programs.  Conservation program funding available in 2008 includes:
       *  An additional $200 million for Environmental Quality Incentives Program to help farmers and ranchers nationwide to solve natural resource problems;
       *  $150 million Wetlands Reserve Program;
       *  $7.5 million for Agricultural Management Assistance.  
       *  For fiscal year 2009, USDA will distribute $1.8 billion in Conservation Reserve Program rental payments to participants across the country.  In response to the Midwest flooding and Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, supplemental funding was provided for the Emergency Watershed Program and the Emergency Conservation Program--in addition to the farm bill funding.
       Rural Development:
       *  $547 million for 232 projects to provide clean, safe drinking water in rural America   the majority of that funding from the farm bill.
       Nutrition Programs:
       *  $390 million in fresh fruits and vegetables were purchased in 2008 for distribution through domestic and international feeding programs;
       *  $49 million for the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program to increase the consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables of elementary school children for 2008;
       *  $21 million in the Senior Farmers' Market Nutrition Program for grants to 49 state agencies and tribal organizations for 2008;
       *  An additional $42 million for TEFAP purchases in 2008 for a total of $190 million.
       Research and Marketing:
       *  $28 million for the Specialty Crop Research Initiative for 2008.  USDA has moved very quickly to implement the Specialty Crop Research Initiative for 2008. The Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) completed review of applications with grant awards announced soon.  Applicants who failed to receive funding during this initial solicitation will have another opportunity early in FY 2009 when additional applications are sought.
       *  $10 million for the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program for 2008;
       *  $22 million for the Organic Cost-Share Program (no year);
       *  $3.4 million for Farmers Market Promotion Program for 2008;
       *  $3.5 million to enhance market news reporting for organic products for 2008
       *  $1.5 million for Agricultural Management Assistance to aid in the transition to organic agriculture
       Energy.  USDA plans to publish in the near future a Notice of Funding Availability for the $75 million in mandatory budget authority for the Biorefinery Assistance Program that has been provided in 2009. Programs have been implemented and are already providing assistance.
       Commodity Programs.  USDA has made the following announcements related to Commodity Program provisions in the 2008 farm bill: 
       *  Payment limitation and payment eligibility provisions applicable to commodity and conservation programs for the 2008 crop, fiscal, or program year;
       *  Marketing assistance loans and loan deficiency payments for 2008 crop cotton and peanuts;
       *  Initial parameters for the fiscal year 2009 sugar program and established the FY09 overall allotment quantity at 8,925,000 short tons, raw value, which is 85 percent of the estimated FY09 domestic human sugar consumption; and
       *  2008-crop loan rates, schedules of premiums and discounts, and other related activities. Training has been conducted for state and county officials about the new farm bill provisions.
       Credit Programs.  Changes to loan limits for direct loans were implemented within days of enactment of the farm bill through a notice to the FSA field staff. The first loan to use the higher loan limits was written within just a few days.
       Crop Insurance.  The Risk Management Agency (RMA) has already implemented several provisions of the farm bill through memorandums to the participating insurance companies or internal procedures. For example, RMA issued a memorandum to the insurance companies implementing changes to the administrative expense reimbursement rate. Further, RMA is reviewing their premium rate structure to comply with section 12003 which reduced the target loss ratio from 1.075 to 1.0.
       Nutrition Programs.  As of October 1, the new name for the food stamp program went into effect--SNAP--renamed by Congress as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. SNAP provisions were implemented by all states.
       Significant provisions include:
       *  Increase in the minimum benefit and standard deduction;
       *  Elimination of retirement and education savings accounts counting as offsetting income resources;
       *  Combat pay as income when determining eligibility and application of full cost associated with child care costs.
       Prior to implementation, USDA had conference calls with all states, issued an implementation memo and posted questions and answers on the web.  Information regarding changes to TEFAP, CSFP, FDPIR, SFMNP were issued in July to providers and states. 
       More Farm Bill Activity:
       *  Rural Development issued an RFA for the Biodiesel Fuel Education Program on July 9, which closed on August 8.
       *  CSREES issued RFA's for the Hispanic Serving Agricultural Colleges and Universities (August 22) and for the Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers Program (September 29).
       *  The Forest Service issued directions to their regions on how to implement the economic relief to timber sale purchases required under the Qualified Timber Contract Options provisions of the farm bill.
       Stakeholder Meetings.  USDA has held hundreds of stakeholder meetings on almost all titles of the Farm Bill and has made USDA representatives available to participate in stakeholder conferences to discuss farm bill implementation.  The department indicates there will continue to be many opportunities for the public to provide their views and expertise as USDA moves forward with implementation.  (Contact: Amy Mann or Charlie Ingram)

FIELD TRAINING MANUAL AVAILABLE FOR FOOD REGULATORY PROFESSIONALS
Published: October 20, 2008

       The Conference for Food Protection (CFP) for the past four years has invested considerable time and resources to develop a nationally recognized model for training and standardizing regulatory Food Safety Inspection Officers (FSIO) responsible for conducting food safety inspections.  The CFP Field Training Manual for Regulatory Retail Food Safety Inspection Officers is now available. 
       CFP and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are distributing this information so that a broader range of state and local jurisdictions can become aware of the manual and benefit from the training process that has been developed. The model developed through the CFP process, consists of a training plan, trainer's worksheets, and procedures that may be used by any regulatory retail food protection program. This manual was developed to assist jurisdictions that do not have the available staff resources and funding necessary to develop a comprehensive training process.  The training model presented in this manual can be readily integrated into existing regulatory retail food protection programs.
       Flexibility has been built into the process to allow regulatory jurisdictions the opportunity to customize training content and methods to represent a jurisdiction's own administrative policies, procedures, and inspection protocol.  The ultimate objective is to ensure FSIOs are trained on, and provided an opportunity to successfully demonstrate, the performance element competencies that are a vital part of their job responsibilities.
       The CFP Field Training Manual can be downloaded from the Conference for Food Protection's website http://www.foodprotect.org.  From this conference home page, click on the link to  Conference Developed Guides and Documents'. Any questions pertaining to the development and/or use of the CFP Field Training Manual can be directed to John Marcello, FDA Pacific Region, by phone at 480/829-7396 ext. 35, or by e-mail at john.marcello@fda.hhs.gov.  (Contact: Charlie Ingram)

SCHWARZENEGGER APPOINTS WILL BROWN CDFA UNDERSECRETARY
Published: October 20, 2008

       Governor Schwarzenegger has announced the appointment of Will Brown as undersecretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
       Brown, of San Mateo, has a broad background in both business and government, and a long history of working with agricultural and consumer food distribution and retail interests, as well as on a wide range of federal and state public policy issues.  Since 2003, he has operated his own government relations and public affairs consulting practice, Will Brown Government & Public Affairs, with offices in Sacramento, Calif., and Austin, Texas.  Immediately prior, from 2001 to 2003, Brown served as a government relations consultant for Lang, Hanson, O'Malley and Miller in Sacramento, and previously, from 1989 to 2001, managed offices in Sacramento and Austin as director of the western region for Albers & Company, a Washington D.C. based, multi-state, government affairs consulting and public policy research firm. From 1986 to 1989 he served as the principal consultant to the California State Assembly's Committee on Finance and Insurance.
       He came to the legislature after serving as a corporate finance officer and operations manager for Bank of America's World Banking Division from 1979 to 1986.  He has previous experience as a financial analyst for mergers and acquisitions with Marshall and Stevens, and as a legislative aide staffing a member of Congress on the House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee.  Brown has an MBA in finance and management from Washington University in St. Louis, and a BA in political science and economics from San Francisco State University.
       "It is my pleasure to welcome Will Brown to our agency," said California Agriculture Secretary A.G. Kawamura.  "He brings valuable experience and will work alongside me as we continue to promote and protect the environment and the vital contributions of California's farmers and ranchers."  (Contact:  Steve Lyle, 916)/654-0462)