At the meeting, FVIAC members will review the status of their previous recommendations to the Secretary. They will also discuss the progress made by the FVIAC’s five Working Groups, which cover the following topics:  1) Ports of Entry Inspection Delays, 2) Research and Grant Funding, 3) Agricultural Labor, 4) Education and Branding, and 5) Food Safety.  All of the working groups will also meet separately during the two-day meeting.

USDA established the FVIAC in 2001 to examine the full spectrum of issues facing the fruit and vegetable industry and to provide suggestions and ideas to the Secretary on how the department can tailor its programs to meet the changing needs of the produce industry. To date, the FVIAC has met fifteen times and developed over seventy statements and recommendations on various issues. FVIAC members represent the full breadth of the produce industry, including fruit and vegetable growers, shippers, wholesalers and distributors, retailers and restaurateurs, industry trade associations, importers and exporters, processors, foodservice suppliers, brokers, state departments of agriculture, farmers markets and food hubs, and the organic sector.

AMS Fruit and Vegetable Program Deputy Administrator, Charles Parrott, serves as the Committee’s Executive Secretary, along with the Designated Federal Officer.

The meeting will be held at the Grand Hyatt Washington Hotel, 1000 H Street, N.W., Bulfinch/Latrobe Conference Room, Washington D.C., 20001.  All individuals interested in submitting comments related to the fruit and vegetable industry must submit them ten business days in advance of the meeting date. 

For more information, visit: www.ams.usda.gov