DeLauro Urges USDA to Implement, Enforce Strong Country-Of-Origin Labeling Standards

NEW HAVEN, CT—Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) today urged Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to implement and enforce strong country-of-origin labeling (COOL) standards. The explanatory statement accompanying the fiscal year 2014 government funding bill signed into law last week does not approve of any Agriculture Marketing Service spending for COOL implementation and enforcement. “If your Department does not enforce COOL, U.S. ranchers will not be able to differentiate their products with a U.S. label and consumers will not have the information they need at the point of purchase,” DeLauro wrote to Vilsack. “Accurate information is essential in a competitive, free market and COOL provides consumers with essential information about the origin of their food. “While the rules are being contested by meat industry stakeholders and the governments, I strongly urge USDA to continue forward with implementation and enforcement of COOL and I offer my support in doing so. American families deserve the complete story of where their food comes from.” The letter can be read in its entirety here. The final rule put forth by USDA after a 2012 World Trade Organization ruling against the United States is once again being contested by Canada and Mexico. DeLauro, a former Chairwoman of the subcommittee responsible for funding the Agriculture Department, strongly believes that American consumers have a right to know the origins of their food. Legislation requiring country-of-origin labeling was signed into law in 2002, but it took another seven years for it to begin to be implemented. Due to that delay, and Canada and Mexico’s efforts to derail the law, labeling only began to go into effect last November.

NSAC Statement on Farm Bill Payment Limit Reform

Washington, DC, January 23, 2014 – The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition issued the following statement today on the status of payment limitations for commodity programs in the farm bill: "The issue of payment limitations for commodity programs is one of the very few remaining issues under discussion before the House-Senate farm bill conference committee can wrap up its work. That the bipartisan reform provision included in both the House and Senate farm bills is even under debate is remarkable, as are some of the claims being made by opponents of reform. There have been continuing misleading statements by opponents of farm program payment limit reform that the provision contained in both the House and Senate farm bills is attempting to define who a farmer is or is not, or how many managers are required to run a modern farm, or changing existing law with respect to landowner exemptions. These are all red herrings. The fundamental issue is whether or not the payment limits, enshrined by Congress in farm bills for four decades, are real or fake. Under current law they are fake. They can fairly easily be sidestepped by adding more and more farm managers to a general partnership that controls the farm. Farm Managers In some mega farming operations that draw large payments far in excess of the statutory payment limitation, those managers provide little or no management, but the USDA rules are loose enough to allow them to qualify for a full payment anyway. In other cases, they may be providing some degree of critical management functions. It really does not matter. If a farm is so large that it needs 5 managers, or 10 managers, or 20 managers to function, and even if all those managers are doing some small but critical function on behalf of the farm, it does not therefore follow that the statutory payment limitation for that farm should magically be multiplied by 5 or 10 or 20. Again, the fundamental issue is whether the payment limit is real or imaginary. It has nothing to do with whether a farm grows so large as to need an entire management team to function. They are absolutely free to function in that manner. The payment limitation law simply says that safety net payments are available up to but not to exceed the amount of the limit, in keeping with the historic aim of the safety net programs to provide targeted protection. What those who argue that multiple farm managers should qualify for a separate payment are really saying is that there should not be a $250,000 limit, but rather, in the case of a farm with 10 farm managers for instance, that there should be a $2.5 million limit. But that would not be a politically attractive statement to make, so they hide behind statements that obscure their real objective. The Compromise Was Already Made The House and Senate passed farm bill reform provision says that everyone who qualifies as a working farmer (i.e., who provides land, capital or equipment and works on the farm at least half-time or for at least half of their commensurate share of the operation) is eligible, plus one additional manager who does not need to provide any farm labor. The additional recipient would not have been eligible under previous reform proposals or under the recommendations of the Government Accountability Office in their reports on the abuse of the payment limitation law. It was added as a good faith effort at compromise. The bipartisan, bicameral reform provision also continues the current law exemption for crop-share landlords and those who share in the production risk. To be absolutely certain about that intent, clarifying language has been added. The reform provision also continues the current law exemption for spouses. Some of the recent discourse from reform opponents has tried to raise questions about these details, again in the hopes of justifying revoking the work of both the House and the Senate. But the language and the record are clear. Punting it to USDA Did Not Work Some have suggested that perhaps the bipartisan, bicameral reform should be scrapped in whole or in part and instead be turned over to the Administration to decide. Where have we heard that before? The 2008 Farm Bill required USDA to rewrite the regulations governing actively engaged in farming rules. It did not, however, dictate how or in what fashion USDA should change the rules. That was the compromise struck between supporters and opponents of reform in the last farm bill - neutral language that left it up to the determination of USDA, using public notice and comment rulemaking procedures. Both the Bush and Obama Administrations took a crack at writing those rules, and in the end, the final rule issued in January 2010 left the management loophole firmly in place, despite an overwhelming number of public comments supporting reform and urging that the management loophole be closed. Given that abdication of responsibility to address reform, Congress rightfully came back to the issue in this new farm bill and the reform agenda won in both the House and the Senate. Time to Move Forward Congress has already spoken on this issue. The farm bill conferees should leave the bipartisan and bicameral reform fully intact. Failure to do so would be a breach of trust and of congressional process. The new farm bill is now long overdue. It is time for the conferees to embrace the widely supported reform included in both bills and to move on with the business of getting the new farm bill enacted into law."

FRUIT LOGISTICA 2014 looks ahead with the new "Future Lab" series of events

Berlin, 23 January 2014 – FRUIT LOGISTICA once again underlines its status as the launch-pad for innovation in the international fresh produce business. "Future Lab", a new series of informal workshops, will present products, projects and solutions aimed at enhancing the fruit and vegetable sector with innovations in the coming years, or contributing significantly to optimisation along the value chain. Future Lab topics in detail: Topic Fighting Black Sigatoka - the end for Cavendish? Date/Time 5 February 2014, 11 a.m. Speaker Gianluca Gondolini, Head of the World Banana Forum's Secretariat, FAO, Italien The banana is one of the most popular fruits worldwide as well as a valuable source of nutrition. Although different varieties are grown, it is the Cavendish variety which dominates exports to Europe. The problem is that Cavendish bananas are threatened by diseases such as Black Sigatoka and TR4. Can these diseases be controlled? If so, how? And what alternative solutions are there? Topic PIQA® pears – a whole new fruit category Date/Time 5 February 2014, 12 a.m. Speaker Roger Bourne, Strategic Marketing Manager, Plant & Food Research, New Zealand PIQA® pears are an entirely new range of fresh fruits with unique and striking skin colours and shapes. They are crisp, juicy and tasty and have the same ready-to-eat convenience as apples, with exceptional storage qualities and shelf-life. PIQA® pears are conventional interspecific hybrids of European, Japanese and Chinese pear cultivars, bred by Plant & Food Research, New Zealand and licensed through PREVAR™ Limited. Topic Mystery shopping - the POS fitness programme Date/Time 5 February 2014, 2 p.m. Speaker Prof. Dr. Kai Sparke, Hochschule Geisenheim, Germany The retail sector is in a state of rapid change. Shopping habits are being revolutionised by the internet. The traditional retail sector can meet these challenges by maximising the potential of the live shopping experience and developing personal customer relationships. The Hochschule Geisenheim has developed a concept through which the potential of Mystery Shopping can be effectively exploited. Knowledge of customers’ expectations and the factors behind customer satisfaction can be converted into specific sales strategies. A whole range of specific recommendations can be made as a result which lead directly to improved sales performance. Topic Quantum leap in lettuce breeding Date/Time 6 February 2014, 11 a.m. Speaker Chris Groot, Enza Zaden, Netherlands Enza Zaden presents a new lettuce breeding tool which has been developed to predict shelf-life. This will lead to new lettuce varieties in 2016/2017 that will reduce wastage in bagged fresh-cut salad products at POS. The industry can thus make a valid response in terms of social responsibility and the issue of food waste in the framework of a steadily growing world population. Topic Customised fruit – to your health! Date/Time 6 February 2014, 12 a.m. Speaker Andrew MacKenzie, Business Development Manager, Plant & Food Research, New Zealand Different fruit varieties for different health benefits. Consumers will in future be prepared to pay significant premiums for fruit that offers specific health benefits beyond their basic nutritional value. Science is already responding by looking in detail at the health benefits which each fruit can deliver. By matching the science to breeding programmes, new fruits can be naturally bred which will excite the interest of consumers. This presentation focuses on recent discoveries in the area of health benefits from fruit and looks at how these may be brought to consumers in the form of new fruit cultivars. Topic Biologica - a nice, clean world Date/Time 6 February 2014, 2 p.m. Speaker Ashish Malik, Vice President of Global Marketing, Bayer CropScience, USA Food safety and environmental responsibility, as longstanding matters of public concern, have been on the agenda of the fresh produce sector for a considerable time. Significant advances have already been made in these areas, but research continues and new strategies are constantly being developed. Integrated solutions represent one new approach which is already making rapid progress. Biologica are gaining rapidly in importance in the fight against plant disease and pests. Topic Optimising the intensive greenhouse production of vegetables Date/Time 7 February 2014, 11 a.m. Speaker Tsu-Wie Chen, PhD Candidate, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Institute of Horticultural Production Systems, Germany Optimising the management of production methods and improving cost efficiency are playing an increasingly important role at grower level. This presentation shows the results of research into environmental influences on greenhouse production: At what level of light intensity is an increase in CO2 levels recommended to encourage photosynthesis? What ambient temperature is necessary to achieve the best results? Topic Information superhighway for fresh produce Date/Time 7 February 2014, 12.00 a.m. Speaker Mark Zwingmann, GS1 Germany, Germany Inventory management systems are not the only data intensive aspect of modern trading. Food safety and traceability also demand a high level of digital information and transparency. This presentation looks at technology which can fulfil the demands of global information exchange, decentralised data storage, data exchange along the entire supply chain, efficient sourcing, and improved transparency for both consumer and trade. For further information: www.fruitlogistica.com