We are pleased 

each day to have 

the opportunity 

to provide services that 

support the marketing of 

fruits, vegetables, nuts, 

and other specialty crops. 

In an effort to continu- ously provide valuable and 

updated information to 

companies and organiza- tions along the produce 

supply chain, we publish 

“AMS Fruit and Vegetable 

Programs News.” In this 

issue, we discuss custom- ized services, share pro- gram updates, and provide 

relevant information 

resources. Other program 

highlights include: 

Increasing Efficiency. 

In 2010 both the Fresh 

and Processed Products 

Branches undertook a 

rigorous business process 

review, each identifying 

new approaches to increase 

efficiency and ultimately 

reduce costs, which is a 

priority overall for USDA 

and AMS. Through con- solidating similar training 

services, improving finan- cial management tools, 

consolidating information 

technology shops, and fur- ther automating inspection 

processes, we have become 

a more efficient operation 

and, more importantly, we 

hope we have improved 

our customer service. 

2009-2011 Fruit and 

Vegetable Industry 

Advisory Committee. The Fruit and Vegetable 

Industry Advisory 

Committee met for the 

last time February 28 to 

March 1. After numerous 

detailed discussions, the 

committee prepared and 

submitted to the Secretary 

of Agriculture recommen- dations on issues ranging 

from purchasing, food 

safety, and agricultural 

labor to the “Know Your 

Farmer, Know Your 

Food” initiative. To learn 

more about committee 

discussions, visit our home 

page at www.ams.usda.

gov/fv and click on “Fruit 

and Vegetable Industry 

Advisory Committee.” 

Social Media. Increasingly, we are utiliz- ing various social media 

tools such as blogs and 

“Twitter” to relay informa- tion to you and invite 

feedback. On “USDA.

Gov/Open,” we recently 

initiated a discussion about 

our Specialty Crop Block 

Grant Program webinar 

to solicit feedback about 

the event. Find the post- ing under the “Discuss” 

heading at this web address 

http://www.usda.gov/open/

blog.nsf.

Web Site Enhancements. 

We are working to improve 

the information available 

on our Web site, www.

ams.usda.gov/fv, adding 

online libraries of: “AMS 

Fruit and Vegetable 

Programs News,” our past 

webinars, and articles we 

have written for numerous 

trade journals. In addition, 

a narrated overview of our 

services is now available.

Webinars. To provide 

practical information to 

help your business each 

day, we continue to con- duct interactive webinars. 

Recent subject matter has 

included the fresh produce 

inspection process, the 

Perishable Agricultural 

Commodities Act, Market 

News reports and informa- tion, how to sell fruits and 

vegetables to the USDA 

and an overview of the 

Specialty Crop Block 

Grant Program. These 

webinars have attracted 

more than 1,500 attendees. 

Check our home page 

for the latest webinar 

invitation. 

As always, we look 

forward to your ideas and 

feedback on these and 

other subjects.

Inside this issue:

•	 Mediation and PACA

•	 Avocado Variety 

Enforcement Programs

•	 Revisions to U.S. 

Standards for Grades 

of Olive Oil and OlivePomace Oil 

•	 Additional Resources 

for the produce Industry

We want to hear from 

you. What topics would 

you like to see covered in 

the future editions of the 

newsletter? Are there any 

questions you can’t find 

answers to on our 

website? Send your 

questions and suggestions to 

FVInfo@ams.usda.gov

Serving You Each Day

Agricultural Marketing Service

United States 

Depatment of 

Agriculture

U. S. Department of Agriculture

Marketing and Regulatory 

Programs

Agricultural Marketing Service

Fruit and Vegetable Programs

1400 Independence Ave SW

Washington, D.C. 20250-0235

Telephone: (202)720-4722

Fax: (202) 720-0016

Email: FVinfo@ams.usda.gov

www.ams.usda.gov/fv

By Robert C. Keeney

FRUIT & VEGETABLE PROGRAMS NEWS

Winter/Spring 2011 Issue

1

Robert C. Keeney 

is the Deputy 

Administrator of 

AMS Fruit and 

Vegetable 

Programs. He can 

be reached at

robert.keeney@

ams.usda.gov.
Jeffrey Spradlin

is the Central 

Region Director of 

the PACA Branch. 

He can be reached 

at (817)978-0780 

or jeffrey.spradlin@

ams.usda.gov.

Mediation is a 

voluntary, con- fidential process 

in which an unbiased 

third-party mediator 

facilitates a conference 

between private parties 

that are involved in a 

dispute. Within the 

Perishable Agricultural 

Commodities Act (PACA) 

Branch, a reparation 

complaint program exists 

in which one party may 

file a complaint against 

another whose operations 

are covered under PACA 

and involve a perishable 

commodity. These dis- putes can become subject 

to a mediation session.

In 1996, the PACA Branch 

began offering mediation 

services to perishable 

fruit and vegetable dealers 

involved in disputed 

complaints and has since 

developed a staff of expe- rienced mediators. The 

mediation sessions can be 

conducted by telephone 

or in a face-to-face setting 

at a mutually agreed-upon 

neutral location.

The mediation process 

focuses on the solution 

to the dispute and not 

on who may be right or 

wrong. Other benefits 

to mediation include: 

participants control the 

outcome, the possibility of 

increasing future business 

relations, and eliminating 

the costs of litigation 

or processing a formal 

complaint. Participants 

are generally more satis- fied with the agreement 

and are more likely to 

uphold the agreement. 

There is no additional 

administrative cost to the 

parties to participate in a 

mediation session.

If you would like more 

information on media- tion, contact one of our 

regional offices at (800) 

495-7222. 

Mediation and PACA By Jeffrey Spradlin

2

Over the years, the 

Marketing Order 

Administration 

Branch (MOAB) has 

developed numerous inno- vative solutions to address 

issues facing the commodi- ties it services. One such 

solution was developed 

and implemented by 

MOAB and other branches 

within AMS to address a 

compliance issue facing 

Florida avocados.

With more than 50 differ- ent varieties of avocados 

in existence, a maturity 

schedule was developed 

to appropriately indicate 

when each variety was 

mature enough to ripen 

properly and enter the 

marketplace. This maturity 

schedule is incorporated 

into the “Federal Market- ing Order for Avocados 

Grown in South Florida” 

and is utilized throughout 

the Sunshine State industry 

to ensure that only mature 

avocados are shipped to 

consumers. 

Accompanying this matu- rity schedule was a photo 

book, developed by indus- try and USDA, depicting 

various avocado varieties 

along with weights and 

dimensions to assist in- spectors in identifying the 

fruit presented for inspec- tion. While the book was 

helpful, there were still 

concerns being expressed 

by the industry that some 

shipments were being 

intentionally mislabeled 

as to variety, resulting in 

immature fruit making it 

to the fresh market. So, 

in 2004, three AMS Fruit 

and Vegetable Programs 

branches--PACA, Fresh 

Products Branch, and 

MOAB--collaborated 

and developed the Avo- cado Variety Enforcement 

Program (AVEP). 

In addition to using the 

photo book, AVEP incor- porates DNA testing as a 

way to positively identify 

the variety of avocado. 

Working with the USDA 

laboratory in Gastonia, 

N.C., it was determined 

that variety could be 

identified using DNA 

taken from small slices of 

avocado. Under AVEP, 

samples are taken from 

random avocado shipments 

and sent overnight to the 

laboratory for testing to 

see if it’s a DNA match 

for the variety declared at 

the time of inspection. If 

it is a match as to variety, 

it is free to enter the chain 

of commerce. If it tests 

as a variety other than 

that declared, the shipper 

is given direction on how 

to dispose of the fruit. If 

the avocados have already 

entered the chain of 

commerce, then MOAB’s 

compliance team would 

consider enforcement 

actions in the form of 

fines and penalties, and 

the shipper may also face 

compliance actions from 

PACA.

Alan Flinn, manager of the 

Avocado Administrative 

Committee, said that AVEP 

serves as “an important 

tool” to ensure only mature 

avocados enter the market 

place and “ultimately 

protects consumers’ con- fidence in green-skin 

avocados.”

Innovative Solutions for Industry Challenges:

Avocado Enforcement Program

By Chris Nissen 

& Lillie Zeng

Christian Niseen

is a Regional 

Manager with the 

Marketing Order 

Administration 

Branch and he 

can be reached at 

(863)324-3375 or 

christian.nissen@

ams.usda.gov.

Lillie Zeng

is a Marketing 

Specialist with the 

Marketing Order 

Administration 

Branch and she 

can be reached at 

(202)690-3870 or 

weiya.zeng@ams.

usda.gov.
The Processed Prod- ucts Branch (PPB) 

of AMS’s Fruit 

and Vegetable Programs 

has been working with 

the processed fruit and 

vegetable industry since 

1931 to help buyers and 

sellers establish recognized 

quality levels for their 

products. PPB has done 

this by responding to 

industry requests for U.S. 

grade standards covering 

a range of products – most 

recently for olive oil. 

In October 2010, the 

newly revised “U.S. Stan- dards for Grades of Olive 

Oil and Olive-Pomace 

Oil” became effective. 

Under the newly revised 

standards, producers, 

brokers, and buyers can 

have their olive oil graded 

and the quality level, such 

as “U.S. Extra Virgin Olive 

Oil,” or “U.S. Virgin Olive 

Oil,” officially determined. 

In revising these standards, 

PPB staff worked closely 

with industry shareholders 

and researched and re- viewed existing standards, 

including the International 

Codex Standard for Olive 

Oils and Olive Pomace 

Oils and the International 

Olive Council’s (IOC) 

trade standard applying 

to Olive Oils and Olive 

Pomace Oils. The end 

results are standards that 

establish quality levels and 

provide a means, through 

prescribed analytical 

testing, of verifying the 

authenticity of the olive 

oil. 

Through the course of 

developing more than 

150 U.S. grade standards 

with the industry, PPB has 

found that there are unique 

characteristics or factors 

which affect a product 

or commodity. These 

unique characteristics 

must be addressed in the 

development or revision of 

a standard. For olive oil, 

these included associating 

the terms “U.S. Extra 

Virgin” and “U.S. Virgin” 

with different quality 

levels and identifying the 

chemical characteristics 

that distinguish between 

the quality levels. 

Authenticity of olive oil 

has also been an area of 

concern, and the newly 

revised “U.S. Standards for 

Grades of Olive Oil and 

Olive-Pomace Oil” provide 

detailed analytical tests 

and tolerances which can 

differentiate between olive 

oil and oil derived from 

other sources.

The new olive oil stan- dards are the most recently 

revised grade standards 

developed by PPB. For 

information on these 

standards or any others 

standards for processed 

fruits and vegetables and 

related products, visit us on 

the web at www.ams.usda.

gov/processedinspection.

Responding to Changing Industry Needs: 

Revisions to U.S. Standards for Grades of Olive Oil

By Terry Bane

3

We often receive 

requests for 

information 

about services important 

to the produce industry, 

but not necessarily within 

AMS Fruit and Vegetable 

Programs area of respon- sibility. As a service, here 

are a few USDA resources 

that you might find helpful. 

Country of Origin Label- ing. Country of Origin 

Labeling (COOL) is a 

labeling law that requires 

grocery stores and other 

retailers licensed under 

the Perishable Agricultural 

Commodities Act (PACA) 

to label certain commodi- ties for country of origin 

and, in some instances, 

the method of production. 

There are approximately 

4,000 PACA licensees that 

operate about 37,000 retail 

stores in the United States. 

As a result of this new 

law, each of these stores 

are required to notify its 

customers of the country 

of origin of perishable 

agricultural commodities 

(fruits and vegetables); 

peanuts, pecans, and maca- damia nuts; ginseng; and a 

variety of meat, shellfish, 

and poultry products. 

AMS partners with State 

governments to carry out 

compliance activities. 

Through a random selec- tion process, retail store 

surveys are conducted 

in each State to measure 

store facilities’ levels of 

compliance. Since the 

regulations for COOL 

became effective in 2009, 

USDA has conducted more 

than 13,000 store reviews 

to verify that the required 

products are being labeled 

and that the labeling 

information is accurate. 

If you would like more 

information on COOL 

requirements, go to the 

AMS Web site at: www.

ams.usda.gov/cool. In 

addition, questions about 

any aspect of COOL can be 

submitted to Julie Lewis, 

COOL marketing special- ist, via email to COOL@

usda.gov, or via phone at 

(202) 720-4486.

Fruits and Vegetables 

Import Requirements 

(FAVIR) Database. If you 

import produce, you may 

want to take a look at the 

USDA Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service’s 

Fruits and Vegetables 

Import Requirements 

(FAVIR) database available 

online at http://www.aphis.

usda.gov/favir/info.shtml. The FAVIR database 

allows customers to search 

for authorized fruits and 

vegetables by commodity 

or country, and quickly 

and easily determine the 

general requirements for 

their importation into the 

United States. For ad- ditional information about 

FAVIR, contact Donna 

West, senior import spe- cialist, at (301) 734-5298, 

or email donna.l.west@

aphis.usda.gov.

Additional Resources for the Produce Industry

Terry Bane 

is the Branch Cheif 

of the Processed 

Products Branch. 

He can be reached 

at (202)720-4693 

or terry.bane@ams.

usda.gov.
USDAAMS Fruit and Vegetable Programs – Serving the produce industry since the early 

1900s, AMS Fruit and Vegetable Programs’ fee-for-service offerings are delivered via 

a network of trained and experienced staff. Our customers include growers, shippers, 

brokers, receivers, distributors, processors, retailers and restaurants, among others. Our services include:

• Audit-based programs

• International representation

• Commodity purchases

• Markets News reports and information

• Establishment of U.S. grade standards

• Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA)

• Inspection and grading

• Self-help marketing programs

• Industry training

• Specialty Crop Block Grants

More information can be found at www.ams.usda.gov/fv, or by contacting Christopher Purdy at (202) 720-3209 or 

christopher.purdy@ams.usda.gov.

U. S. Department of Agriculture

Marketing and Regulatory 

Programs

Agricultural Marketing Service

Fruit and Vegetable Programs

1400 Independence Ave SW

Washington, D.C. 20250-0235

Telephone: (202)720-4722

Fax: (202) 720-0016

Email: FVinfo@ams.usda.gov

www.ams.usda.gov/fv

News in Breif

Research & Promotion Programs – The softwood lumber and Christmas trees industries submitted proposals to 

AMS Fruit and Vegetable Programs to develop research and promotion programs for their respective commodities. 

Research and promotion programs help maintain and expand markets for agricultural commodities in the United 

States. 

On October 1, 2010, a proposal requesting comments on the softwood lumber 

proposals was published in the “Federal 

Register.” Fifty-five comments regarding 

the proposal were received, and AMS 

is in the process of publishing a second 

proposal and referendum procedures to 

allow the industry to vote on whether 

it supports this effort. If supported, the 

program will become effective shortly 

after the referendum. 

A Christmas tree industry proposal was 

published in the “Federal Register” on 

November 8, 2010. The comment period 

initially ended on February 7, 2011, but 

was reopened and extended until March 9, 

2011.