Concept

A national marketing agreement administered by USDA would allow handlers of both domestically grown and imported leafy greens to voluntarily participate in a program across geographic boundaries to jointly implement best practices and a corresponding verification program that could reduce the potential for microbial contamination in these crops. Such an agreement would be entirely voluntary for handlers, although once a company chooses to participate, compliance with best practices would be required in order to continue as a member of the agreement. While voluntary, we believe the agreement can have the greatest positive impact if the large majority of the industry chooses to participate.

The concept of a marketing agreement among leafy greens handlers is well established by successful programs in California and Arizona. The leafy greens industries in these states have almost universally signed up to participate in these state-based programs that require specific best practices and provide for independent audit verification by government employees. The success of these programs in meeting industry needs has led to our proposal that USDA consider a national program, recognizing of course that regional variations and specific practices may need to be different from those required by the California or Arizona programs. In fact, a potential national agreement would be developed under the auspices of USDA in an open and transparent manner bringing together all stakeholders across the country, including importers of leafy greens who could be potential participants in the agreement.