March VEAL BLOG
Promotions
Valentine’s Day Promotion
Valentine’s Day was a little more memorable this year thanks to our four participating influencers who (1) educated their followers about veal, (2) created/shared a veal recipe with their followers (3) served a veal dish to their family for Valentine’s Day or ordered a veal dish at a restaurant on Valentine’s Day. Total impression reach: 77,000+. Click on the links to see what was shared.
Millennial Research Project
A nationwide online survey of 1,000 Millennials and /or Millennial parents to gain insights on veal consumption was completed. The findings and insights will be used to better focus our messaging and tactics to reach and engage our target audience.
Findings will be presented at Summit on March 25th.
Veal Quality Assurance
New Barn Signs! Order Your Free Signs Today!
The Veal Quality Assurance has a series of four barn signs available focusing on Best Management Practices for Calf Handling, Feed, Water and Nutrition, Animal Health, and Housing and Facilities. The new signs, water and weather resistant, reinforce important VQA practices for all those caring for calves daily. Veal farmers and industry professionals including SBC staff, feed representatives, procurement managers and veterinarians, can get more information on ordering these free signs for their growers by contacting DonnaM@LookEast.com
Industry
March 25th Veal Summit
Get ready to engage at the Veal Summit March 25 and plan future veal program priorities. Kevin Ochsner, who provides leadership to the development of the Beef Industry Long Range Plan, will facilitate the strategic discussion for the group at the Summit. Ochsner has nearly three decades of experience providing strategic consulting, keynote speaking and custom training services to many of the world’s leading agribusiness companies, organizations and industry associations. The Veal Summit begins at 7:30 am and concludes at 3:30 pm at the Hershey Lodge. Following program updates and consumer research, the primary focus of the day will be to discuss and approve a Veal Industry Long Range Plan and to prioritize strategic initiatives for developing veal checkoff funded programs for the coming year.
March 24 Crisis Communication Workshop
To help the industry effectively manage and respond to crises, a Crisis Communication Workshop will be held March 24 prior to the Veal Summit in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The workshop begins at 1 pm and pre-registration is required. How prepared are you to communicate with the public and stakeholders when an unexpected event occurs that could have a negative impact on your organization’s and the industry’s reputation? More importantly, how quickly are you able to communication with key audiences? Bring your team for this half-day session. The workshop will provide resources and coaching for planning, managing and communicating during challenging circumstances. To register for the Crisis Communication Workshop and Veal Summit CLICK HERE.
NAMI Signs MOU with the British Meat Processors Association.
The Meat Institute, a contractor to the Beef Checkoff, announced today the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the British Meat Processors Association (BMPA) to benefit members of each organization and to support and promote mutually beneficial regulations, standards and policies to enhance bilateral trade in meat and poultry products. This comes as trade negotiations are set to begin between the U.S. and the United Kingdom. The MOU was signed by Meat Institute Chairman and President and CEO of Sigma, Warren Panico, and Nick Allen, CEO of the BMPA. A copy is available here.
“Members of the Meat Institute and the British Meat Processors Association share many common goals, especially regarding food safety, sustainability, nutrition and worker safety,” said Meat Institute Senior Vice President for International Affairs Bill Westman. “As our governments begin trade talks, it is important to members in both organizations to formalize an already beneficial relationship. We look forward to working with the Administration and our British counterparts to improve access to significant trade opportunities between our nations.” The Meat Institute’s full statement is available here.
Regulatory Affairs
FDA Reopens Comment Period on General Principles for Food Standards Modernization.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reopened the comment period on a 2005 proposed rule to establish a set of general principles for the agency to use when considering whether to establish, revise, or eliminate a food standard of identity. The original proposed rule was jointly published with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. FDA is reopening the comment period to receive new data, information, or further comments only on the FDA-specific aspects of the 2005 proposed rule, including 13 general principles for food standards modernization. The agency will continue to engage with USDA regarding standards of identity modernization principles and any potential future actions regarding finalizing the proposed rule. At the public meeting on the Nutrition Innovation Strategy, held in July 2018, and in comments submitted to the public meeting docket, stakeholders expressed general support for FDA and USDA continuing their work to finalize the proposed rule. However, due to changes that have occurred in manufacturing, food technology, market trends and nutrition science, stakeholders also indicated that FDA should solicit new information and data to inform this effort. More information is available here.
FSIS Extends Deadline on Signing Paper Export Certificates for China.
To ensure adequate time for exporters, the Food Safety and inspection Service (FSIS) extended the period during which FSIS Public Health Veterinarians (PHVs) can sign paper export certificates generated outside the Public Health Information System (PHIS) for China for export applications submitted before January 27, 2020. The new deadline is March 21, 2020. The original deadline that FSIS PHVs could sign was February 1, 2020. After March 21, any application started outside PHIS where the associated export certificate has not yet been signed will have to be re-done in PHIS as a new export application. The January 27, 2020, for all new applications and subsequent export certificates for China being completed in PHIS has not changed. More information can be found in the Constituent Update here.
USDA Proposes Amendments to Quality Systems Verification Programs.
USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) proposed to amend regulations in 7 CFR Part 62, Quality Systems Verification Programs (QSVP), to clarify that services provided under this part apply to all commodities covered by the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946. The proposed amendments will clarify the scope of services defined in Part 62 and incorporate all current and future voluntary, user-fee audit verification and accreditation programs and services provided by AMS into a single regulation. Simultaneously, AMS proposed amendments to harmonize the administrative procedures governing these services, and to make conforming changes as necessary to 7 CFR Parts 54, 56, 70, 90, and 91 to remove references to audit services. The deadline for comments is April 20, 2020. The Federal Register notice is available here.
AMS Shares Memo Warning About Fraudulent Emails.
The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) received notice that a fraudulent email was received by some of its customers claiming that they owed an outstanding payment. AMS warns that this is a phishing scam and is not an official notice from USDA. AMS said to not open any emails from this address and to not click on any of the links that may be included in the email. An example of this phishing scam can be found here. Those who have received a message from the email listed in in the previous hyperlink should contact QAD.BusinessOps@usda.gov or (501) 312-2962. AMS is investigating the issue.
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