USDA nixes national leafy greens proposal, eVGN December 2013
USDA terminated a proposed national leafy greens marketing agreement on Dec. 5. The national agreement was first proposed in 2009 by industry groups and had been in the regulatory pipeline since then. The official termination notice was published in the Federal Register.
“Termination of the proceeding will allow USDA to discuss recent developments with interested parties, and consider the evolving needs of the industry and consumers,” said a statement on the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service website. “USDA has determined that recent developments, including the FDA publication of proposed rules under the Food Safety Modernization Act, could affect fundamental aspects of the proposed marketing agreement.”
The program, as proposed by the leafy greens industry, would have regulated the handling of cabbage, lettuce, spinach and other vegetables defined as leafy greens marketed in the United States. The national agreement was intended to be a voluntary agreement that would have set up a uniform, science-based food quality program, including a set of good management practices for all operations.
The California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement (CLGMA) was one of the groups that proposed the creation of the national marketing agreement – an agreement that leafy greens producers in other states could have joined voluntarily, wrote Scott Horsfall, CEO of CLGMA.
“At the time, it seemed like a good idea,” Horsfall wrote on CLGMA’s website, but he supported USDA’s recent decision to terminate the proposal.
“A lot has changed since the (national leafy greens) program was conceptualized, largely because we now have the Food Safety Modernization Act,” Horsfall wrote. “Because of this new federal law, produce farmers around the nation will be regulated by FDA to ensure their products are safe.”
Between the California and Arizona marketing agreements, which have been in place for more than six years, 90 percent of the leafy greens grown in the United States are being produced in a manner that meets or exceeds the proposed food safety regulations, according to Horsfall.