by Nancy Tucker
Global Trade Resources Are Just a Click Away

Produce Marketing Association (PMA) is well known for its international convention and exposition, Fresh Summit, held each fall. Yet PMA is much more than just a week in October at a convention – PMA offers year-round value that connects, informs and delivers business solutions to enhance members’ prosperity. To inform our readers about PMA's many and varied activities designed specifically for its worldwide members, This is the second in a series of articles that Freshplaza is publishing about PMA's activities.


PMA knows today’s produce industry is increasingly global, and we are actively working to help  unite the global supply chain. Toward this giak, PMA offers a broad range of resources to help members around the globe understand the opportunities, and challenges, in international trade.  By bringing together buyers and sellers worldwide through a variety of mediums, PMA helps members understand the issues and regulations affecting international trade.  A wealth of easily accessible information for those trading in the global produce industry is just a click away on www.PMA.com.

In today’s global economy, PMA recognizes our members’ need for information about markets and trade issues all over the world by providing important information in our International Markets Information resource.  Our Global Market Profiles provide members with market analysis and insight on important and upcoming markets.  Other reports cover issues in detail, from the supermarket evolution in emerging markets to overviews of the Codex Alimentarius and the World Trade Organization.

Our International Trade Related Products & Resources help members dealing in international trade to better understand and trade in the global market by keeping them up to date on the latest trade information. Our Headline News subscription service provides easily digestible news digests specific to the produce industry, while other more detailed resources offer valuable insight into crisis management and transportation, among other issues.

PMA is your source for everything you need to know to trade with the United States, including how to comply with U.S. regulations, product information, and consumer and market trends.  Through our U.S. Market and Trends Information resources, we help companies better understand U.S. trade regulations, fresh fruit and vegetable availability and seasonality, free trade agreements, and more.  Whether you are starting to investigate entering the United States fresh produce market or you have been trading with the states for years, PMA’s market resources help you gain a better understanding of market and consumer trends affecting the industry from supply chain all the way to consumer information.

PMA recognizes the force of our global membership by listening to international industry leaders, adding international representatives to enhance member outreach, creating services built especially for its international members, and participating in global events.  Through PMA in Your Neighborhood  you can get to know those involved international leaders as well as find out where our next global events will be.  PMA representatives in Australia/New Zealand, Mexico and Chile provide insight on the needs of those marketplaces and act as the local PMA contact.  Additionally we operate country councils in Mexico and Australia/New Zealand to enhance our member outreach, and we have an International Advisory Council comprised of industry leaders from around the world.  Our Fresh Connections events bring PMA to our members around the world and provide educational and networking opportunities.  In 2009, we’ll hold Fresh Connections events in: Santiago, Chile, in April; Sydney, Australia, in May; and Guadalajara, Mexico, in May.

As food distribution chains are increasingly stretched around the world, urgency has arisen for the creation of new food safety standards and stricter enforcement of existing food safety laws to ensure food industry quality control and food processing standards provide a safe global food supply.  Coordinating these international governmental efforts is no easy task. In the United States alone, food safety regulations are divided among multiple government agencies such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). These U.S. agencies must then communicate with the equivalent government agencies of other countries. Our International Coordination of Food Safety Regulations resources provide information on many countries with their corresponding agency/agencies so traders can be better informed.

The Food Safety pages on our site also contain beneficial resources, including commodity specific guides in both English and Spanish. Our pages on traceability cover general traceability issues as well as specifics on the Produce Traceability Initiative being implemented in the United States.  For members only, there are a number of products available to be down loaded from the web such as PMA’s Crisis Management Manual, Training Needs in Mexico, RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), and Improving the Efficiency of the Supply Chain (use of standardized bar codes) documents.

Through www.PMA.com, companies worldwide can easily access real-world information pertinent to understanding and bettering their business. A wealth of resources from highly experienced professionals is just a click away, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

Publication date: 2/17/2009
Author: Wim Geurts
Copyright: www.freshplaza.com

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