USDA to step up process verification

摘要

In a Federal Register notice on August 6, the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) and Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) announced that "in response to market needs," they have developed and are planning to develop additional "voluntary testing and process verification programs to facilitate the marketing of agricultural products." USDA noted that the emergence of value-enhanced products and a niche market for non-biotechnology-derived commodities have created agreater need to differentiate products in the handling system. USDA sought public comment between November 30, 2000 and April 16, 2001, and reported that many respondents "expressed a clear need for USDA to facilitate the marketing of products, not through the traditional grades and standards, but through the exchange of information and services concerning analytical testing and various marketing mechanisms, such as identity preservation [IP] and process verification."