In prior posts concerning PMA’s Fresh Summit 2012 Convention & Exposition, I’ve shared details about various workshop topics – from traceability, to food safety wash water to social media. Today I’d like to highlight five distinct sessions that are part of the Fresh Summit business innovation and leadership education series. All of these workshops will be held Friday, October 26.

• Closing the Gap: Engaging Multiple Generations in Today’s Dynamic Marketplace. In this session, Seth Mattison (millennial guru and keynote speaker for BridgeWorks, LLC) will help leaders understand the unique needs of the very different generations populating the marketplace. He’ll cover which sales approaches and marketing techniques appeal to different generations and provide answers to questions concerning generations’ “hot buttons,” effective sales pitches, and the use of technology to connect with a new generation born online? You might recognize Seth’s name; we interviewed him for the Spring 2012 issue of PMA FRESH magazine and he’ll also be speaking during the PMA Foundation’s Young Professionals Webinar later this month on September 27.
• The Innovation Conversation: How to Survive the e-Revolution. Hear Kevin Coupe, content guy for MorningNewsBeat.com and Tom Tom Furphy, CEO of Consumer Equity Partners, share their insights into how the fresh produce supply chain must evolve at the pace of a web click. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in a far-reaching and provocative conversation about where traditional retailing is heading, what can be learned from e-commerce successes, how to compete in the new environment, and how to understand the new consumer.
• Fresh Produce as a Preferred Load: Competing for Transportation in a Shrinking Market. A number of issues are affecting the produce industry’s transportation sector, ranging from escalating costs and a profusion of new regulations to a scarcity of truck availability. In this session, Doug Stoiber of L&M Transportation Services will help shippers, growers, packers, inspectors, truck owners, drivers, transportation brokers, and buyers learn how to compete with other commodities for the best value in transportation.
• Your Business 2.0: Super iPad Tools that Keep You On-The-Go. Join Apple Certified Trainer, Consultant and iPad expert Phil Goodman for an interactive session designed to teach participants how to harness the power of iOS (Mobile Operating System) to facilitate daily business tasks – from hosting remote meetings to managing data with a single click to delivering powerful presentations. (Note: WiFi access will be available to the first 100 participants. Attendees are encouraged to bring their iPads to provide an interactive hands-on experience.)
• Retaining Top Talent and Keeping it Engaged – A Total Rewards Approach. In this session, Paul Rowson, HR Business Partner and Manager for The MITRE Corporation, will share ideas on how to keep key performers motivated and engaged through a well-designed rewards strategy. Learn how short-term incentives, work-life balance, career development, rewards, and recognition factor into a compensation package that goes beyond a paycheck.

You can learn more about the 2012 Fresh Summit program by visiting our website. Also, if you’re planning to attend, be sure to register on or before September 21 to receive early registration rates. There are a number of event registration packages available; get complete details on these options. There’s also a Fresh Summit Community on PMA Xchange where you can learn more about this year’s show, as well as look back at sessions from the 2011 event.

One final note: If you know an industry leader who has demonstrated outstanding volunteer leadership skills and an uncommon commitment to helping PMA achieve its goals of advancing the produce industry, let us know by nominating him/her for the first annual Robert L. Carey Leadership Award. Get more specifics on this opportunity via our website.

Last Friday, the government of Mexico formally suspended 100 percent of retaliatory tariffs on exports from the United States – effectively ending a cross-border trucking dispute that began in 2009. You’ll recall that, in July, U.S. and Mexico officials signed agreements resolving the dispute over long-haul, cross-border trucking services. For more details, check out this just-released report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service.

The tariffs were put in place as retaliation to the termination by the U.S. government of a pilot trucking program in 2009. Since the tariffs were instituted, they have hindered the produce industry’s ability to export from the U.S. into Mexico while creating difficulties for Mexican truckers to move products into the U.S. This settlement will ensure smooth movement of goods among trading partners in both nations.

PMA has been supportive of this trade dispute’s resolution, particularly a cross-border long-haul trucking pilot program. We believe this program protects U.S. highways while facilitating increased trade and economic opportunity. Kudos to the leadership of U.S. and Mexico trade officials for their work in reaching this long overdue solution.

A couple weeks ago I mentioned a report indicating that the ongoing U.S.-Mexico trucking dispute was nearing its end, pending the signing of a formal agreement by both nations. Yesterday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes Dionisio Arturo Pèrez-Jàcome Friscione met in Mexico City to sign agreements resolving the dispute over long-haul, cross-border trucking services.

A press release from the U.S. Federal Motor Carriers Administration (FMCSA) noted that the new program “puts safety first and paves the way for Mexico to lift tariffs it imposed more than two years ago. Pursuant to an agreement signed by the United States Trade Representative and the Secretaría de Economía of the United Mexican States, Mexico will soon lift retaliatory tariffs on more than $2 billion in U.S. manufactured goods and agricultural products, providing opportunities to increase U.S. exports to Mexico and expanding job creation in the U.S.”

The agreement also provides that Mexico will suspend 50 percent of the retaliatory tariffs within ten days. Mexico will suspend the remainder of the tariffs within five days of the first Mexican trucking company receiving its U.S. operating authority. As a result, Mexican tariffs that now range from five to 25 percent on an array of U.S. agricultural and industrial products such as apples, certain pork products, and personal care products would be immediately cut in half and will disappear entirely within a few months.

In May, PMA submitted comments to the FMCSA announced its proposal of a United States-Mexico cross-border long-haul trucking pilot program – which is the foundation of resolving this dispute. In those comments, we voiced our strong support of the pilot program, stating that it protects U.S. highways while facilitating increased trade and economic opportunity.

In a media statement on yesterday’s action, PMA President and CEO Bryan Silbermann said: “This dispute has had a profound impact on the fresh produce industry in particular. Mexico is a critical trading partner for our members and the resolution of this issue not only allows for greater export opportunities, but also impacts job creation and demand for produce in both countries.”

A number of our members were adversely affected by the retaliatory tariffs and lost market share as a result. We’re pleased to see this issue move closer to an end and we urge Congress and the Obama administration to finalize the resolution of this dispute and work to ensure its implementation.

A recent Houston Chronicle article reports that Mexican Economy Minister Bruno Ferrari said his country will sign a formal agreement to end a trucking dispute with the U.S. as early as this month, setting the stage for the country to remove punitive tariffs. Mexico will remove 50 percent of the tariffs once the agreement is signed, and remove the remaining amount once the U.S. grants authorization for Mexican trucks to operate across the border, Ferrari said.

As noted previously on here Field to Fork, in 2009, the U.S. Congress stopped a cross-border trucking safety pilot project run by the U.S. Department of Transportation by eliminating funding for the project. This prompted Mexico to announce retaliatory tariffs on a wide variety of U.S. manufactured and agricultural exports to Mexico, including a number of fresh produce crops.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced its proposal of a United States-Mexico cross-border long-haul trucking pilot program to test and demonstrate the ability of Mexico-based motor carriers to operate safely in the U.S. beyond the municipalities and commercial zones along the U.S.-Mexico border. In comments submitted on the proposal, we voiced our strong support of the pilot program, stating that it protects U.S. highways while facilitating increased trade and economic opportunity.

In comments submitted today to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), PMA stated its support of a pilot program that would test and demonstrate the ability of Mexico-based motor carriers to operate safely in the U.S. beyond the municipalities and commercial zones along the U.S.-Mexico border.

You’ll recall that the pilot program is part of FMCSA’s implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement cross-border long-haul trucking provisions. It would allow Mexico-domiciled motor carriers to operate throughout the U.S. for up to three years; U.S.-domiciled motor carriers would be granted reciprocal rights to operate in Mexico for the same period.

Participating Mexican carriers and drivers would be required to comply with all applicable U.S. laws and regulations, including those concerned with motor carrier safety, customs, immigration, vehicle registration and taxation, and fuel taxation. The safety of the participating carriers would be tracked closely by FMCSA with input from a Federal Advisory Committee.

In our comments, PMA President Bryan Silbermann said that “the pilot program proposed in this notice will begin the process of lifting the sanctions affecting the U.S. economy. It addresses safety standards so there can be no claim that this pilot endangers the safety of U.S. roads and citizens. In fact, the multi-state pilot permits only those carriers that have demonstrated a sufficient commitment to safety be part of the program. What is more, it abides by the U.S. commitment made many years ago in the NAFTA.”

In Wednesday’s Federal Register, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced its proposal of a United States-Mexico cross-border long-haul trucking pilot program to test and demonstrate the ability of Mexico-based motor carriers to operate safely in the U.S. beyond the municipalities and commercial zones along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The pilot program is part of FMCSA’s implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement cross-border long-haul trucking provisions. It would allow Mexico-domiciled motor carriers to operate throughout the U.S. for up to three years; U.S.-domiciled motor carriers would be granted reciprocal rights to operate in Mexico for the same period.

Participating Mexican carriers and drivers would be required to comply with all applicable U.S. laws and regulations, including those concerned with motor carrier safety, customs, immigration, vehicle registration and taxation, and fuel taxation. The safety of the participating carriers would be tracked closely by FMCSA with input from a Federal Advisory Committee.

This proposal is a key part of the efforts to end the two-year-long dispute over Mexican trucks operating in the U.S. You’ll recall that in 2009, the U.S. Congress stopped a cross-border trucking safety pilot project run by the U.S. Department of Transportation by eliminating funding for the project. This prompted Mexico to announce retaliatory tariffs on a wide variety of U.S. manufactured and agricultural exports to Mexico, including a number of fresh produce crops.

Industry comments are due on this proposal by May 13.

This pilot program is one step toward restoring our trade agreement obligations. For those in our industry who have faced the retaliatory tariffs and lost market share in Mexico, it’s also a positive sign that relief may be coming.

Last fall, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) announced the implementation of the first stage of the eManifest initiative, a major project that will change the way commercial goods moving into Canada are processed. When fully implemented in 2012, it will require trade partners in all modes of transportation to submit cargo, crew/passenger, conveyance, secondary and importer data to the CBSA prior to arrival at the border. eManifest will be implemented over a number of years, by client type, using an 18-month timeline (12 months to begin submitting manifests and six months of informed compliance).

More short-term, however, is the April 1 compliance date for all highway carriers to have a CBSA-issued carrier code. The itinerant highway carrier code ‘77YY’ will no longer be accepted. This year, highway carriers can begin transmission of data. The 18-month implementation timeline for these client types will begin once the eManifest Portal becomes available in mid 2011.

If you are a grower/shipper, even if you don’t arrange for transportation, your product will be held up at the border if your carriers don’t have a CBSA-issued carrier code by April 1. Starting in June 2011 when the portal will be available, carriers will have 12 months to start submitting manifests. At the end of those twelve months, product may be held up or refused entry into Canada if the carrier hasn’t submitted a manifest.

If you are a trucking company, you need to ensure your carriers have CBSA-issued carrier codes by April 1 and that they begin using eManifest in 2011. For more information on eManifest, please visit the CBSA website, where the agency also has a list of eManifest frequently asked questions and answers. Thanks to our friends at CPMA for sharing this information with us.

Speaking of CPMA, even as we’re sad at Dan Dempster’s impending retirement after 34 years with CPMA, it’s great to see Ron Lemaire returning to the produce fold. Ron was with CPMA for some time, and after a stint outside the industry, he’s coming back as the new CPMA president. He’s had a lot of experience with CPMA and led its consumer outreach efforts for some time. We, at PMA, have enjoyed working with him in the past and we’re looking forward to doing so again. Congratulations to Ron and CPMA and best wishes to Danny on his retirement.

Earlier today it was announced that the United States and Mexico have resolved a two-year dispute over Mexican trucks operating in the U.S. As it is envisioned, the United States will phase in a program allowing Mexican trucks to operate in the United States (provided they meet U.S. safety standards). Mexico will lift half of the tariffs it has imposed immediately and the other half once the first Mexican truck is allowed to enter the United States.

(Background: In 2009, the U.S. Congress stopped a cross-border trucking safety pilot project run by the U.S. Department of Transportation by eliminating funding for the project. This prompted Mexico to announce retaliatory tariffs on a wide variety of U.S. manufactured and agricultural exports to Mexico, including a number of fresh produce crops. In early January, the DOT issued a concept paper to offer a resolution to the dispute.)

This is good news for trade between the countries and particularly for those in our industry who have faced the retaliatory tariffs and lost market share in Mexico. We urge both countries to finalize the agreement as quickly as possible.

Last month during PMA’s first Government Affairs Committee meeting in Washington, DC, a committee member talked about the challenges in finding government information online – specifically the difficulties discovered in locating data on agency websites. While we’ve developed resources to help members navigate agencies, I wanted to highlight a complementary effort by USDA that’s coming up next week.

On Thursday, February 24, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service is holding a free Webinar focused on the agency’s Market News reports and information. The Webinar aims to help participants get the most out of the information available on the Market News Portal, including customized views and downloads of data from as far back as 1998 for wholesale or terminal markets, retail, shipping point prices, imports and domestic movements, and specialty crops.

The deadline to register for this event is February 21. To register, go here. If you have questions, contact Christopher Purdy at USDA AMS, +1 (202) 720-3209. In addition, AMS has let me know they have an online narrated overview of its services.

The Alliance to Keep U.S. Jobs (of which PMA is a member) sent a letter to President Obama January 21 applauding the administration’s recent proposal to bring the trucking dispute with Mexico to a mutually acceptable conclusion. Lee Mannering wrote about the concept paper here on Field to Fork January 7.

The Alliance wrote: “The ‘concept’ paper developed by (Transportation) Secretary LaHood is an enormously important step toward a solution that will put an end to the retaliation against our products. We recognize that it is just a first step and that opponents of a solution that moves the United States toward compliance with its international obligations will work hard to halt your efforts. We urge you to proceed quickly to resolve this matter with Mexico not only because it will save jobs in our industries but also because it is in the national interest to do so.”

It’s not over yet, but this is brighter than a glimmer in the distance. A solution is at hand and we will continue to press for its implementation.