PMA plans COOL Webinar

Clearly, our industry associations have been preparing for the day when the COOL interim final rule was released. Here is news from PMA about an education and outreach event in early August:


New COOL implementing regulations to be introduced
via free PMA/Western Growers Webinar

Newark, Del. – Industry members can learn firsthand how to implement the newly-released country of origin labeling (COOL) interim implementing regulations from representatives of the agency that wrote them during a free Webinar scheduled for Aug. 6. The Webinar will feature an in-depth look at the new regulations from U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Administrator Lloyd Day; it is being co-hosted by Produce Marketing Association (PMA) and Western Growers.

Day will present the new regulations – released by USDA July 28 – and explain what companies throughout the supply chain need to do to comply with them. He and other USDA representatives, including Deputy Administrator for Fruit and Vegetable Programs Robert Keeney, will then answer questions from Webinar participants.

“This Webinar will offer industry a first look at the brand new regulations,” said PMA Vice President of Government Relations and Public Affairs Kathy Means. “We know time is of the essence, because COOL labeling has to be in place by Sept. 30.”

“There has been a lot of anxiety and concerns over false starts in the marketplace, so we are glad to provide this opportunity to go straight to the source to find out exactly what to do,” said Western Growers Executive Vice President Matt McInerney.

The Webinar will be held Aug. 6 at 2 p.m. Eastern/11 a.m. Pacific time. There is no charge to participate, but registration is required. The agenda will feature a lengthy question-and-answer period, to give industry participants plenty of time to have their questions aired and addressed. For additional information and to register, visit: http://www.pma.com/webinar/COOL-2-Webinar.html.

Recording of June 24 COOL best practices Webinar now available
A recording is now available on an earlier Webinar on COOL that was also hosted by the two associations. The June 24 Webinar presented draft COOL best management practices that had been developed by a joint task force whose members represent the entire supply chain. Task force chairs Tom Deardorff of Deardorff Family Farms and Mike O’Brien of Schnuck Markets presented the best practices during the June 24 Webinar. That recording and best management practices can be accessed via PMA’s Web site at http://www.pma.com/issues/labeling.cfm and Western Growers’ Web site at www.wga.com.

The task force will review the new interim implementing regulations to determine whether the best management practices should now be updated.