| Contacts: |
Amy Philpott |
Kathy Means |
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United Fresh Produce Association
202/303-3425 |
Produce Marketing Association
302/738-7100 |
The Produce Marketing Association and United Fresh Produce Association Boards of Directors announced today that each association has endorsed similar resolutions calling for a federal food safety regulatory framework to protect public health and enhance consumer confidence in produce safety.
“We are pleased that both associations have reached an independent but common conclusion that produce safety standards must be federally mandated, risk-based and allow for commodity-specific regulation,” said United Fresh Chairman Emanuel Lazopoulos and PMA Chairman Peter Goulet. “Such standards should be uniform and should apply consistently to an individual commodity or commodity group regardless of its place of production,” they said.
“Both Boards of Directors believe that our industry must work together to support appropriate action and oversight by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in order to ensure public confidence in the food supply,” they said. “The FDA must also have the proper funding and support from Congress in order to provide leadership in setting commodity specific produce safety standards and overseeing compliance. We look forward to working together with FDA, as well as working collaboratively with state Departments of Agriculture, state Departments of Health, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to assist in development, implementation, education and monitoring of food safety practices.”
As an example of this collaborative process, both associations point to the excellent work of the industry and government in California in developing quantifiable metrics for Good Agricultural Practices in leafy greens production. “These metrics can serve as a basis for FDA commodity specific guidance for leafy greens GAPs, taking into account needed variation in regional production and additional stakeholder input through a notice and comment period,” they said.
Both PMA and United Fresh will continue to encourage support for these principles among international, national, regional and commodity specific produce associations, working together with allies to ensure the most appropriate federal approach to specific produce safety measures.
The United Fresh Board adopted its initial statement of principles for the most desirable produce safety regulatory framework at its meeting January 20, and reaffirmed those general principles at its meeting May 5 with additional explanation of its recommendations. The PMA Board adopted a resolution following its meeting April 28.
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