USDA ANNOUNCES HEARINGS ON PROPOSED LEAFY GREENS AGREEMENT
News Date September 15, 2009
The Agriculture Marketing Service (AMS) has announced a series of public hearings to consider a proposed marketing agreement under the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937 to cover the handling of leafy green vegetables and products in the United States. The proposal was submitted by a cross-section of producer and handler representatives from the fresh produce industry and would authorize the development and implementation of production and handling regulations (metrics). Such metrics would reflect Good Agricultural Practices, Good Handling Practices, and Good Manufacturing Practices and would be voluntary in that only handlers who sign the marketing agreement would be subject to the requirements of the marketing agreement. Signatory handlers could only handle leafy green vegetables or product from the production area or imported that meets the requirements of the program.
The hearing dates are: September 22 through 24, 2009, Monterey, California; September 30 through October 1, 2009, Jacksonville, Florida; October 6, 2009, Columbus, Ohio; October 8, 2009, Denver, Colorado; October 14 and 15, 2009, Yuma, Arizona; October 20, 2009, in Syracuse, New York; October 22, 2009, in Charlotte, North Carolina.
More information, including the hearing locations and AMS contact information can be found in the Federal Register notice. (Contact: Amy Mann)