Customs house brokers have been preparing their customers -- and international produce shippers -- for a new phase of regulatory enforcement that will soon take effect. U.S. Customs & Border Protection will begin enforcing the Importer Security Filing rule Jan. 26 with stiff financial penalties. The ISF rule has actually been in effect since Jan. 25, 2009. But U.S. Customs gave international traders of all commercial items a year to adjust to the rules. Now, failure to comply with ISF will result in penalties to importers that might total as much as $15,000 per shipping container. According to

VIENNA, VA -- The U.S. Apple Association praised the U.S. Department of Agriculture's announced intended purchases of apples and apple products. The $18.6 million overall apples and apple products buy was first announced by the Obama Administration in November 2009, but amounts tentatively allotted for each category were revealed in mid-January. "This is good news for both consumers and apple growers," Mark Seetin, USAppleRs director of regulatory and industry affairs, said in a Jan. 15 press release. "The American apple industry vigorously supports USDA's plans to purchase a wide variety of

As the extended cold snap in Florida wound down the week of Jan. 11, produce distributors and retailers in the Northeast were facing shortages and high prices on a number of items. "We tend to react quickly to situations like the Florida freeze because the demand is so high in New York," Pete Napolitano, a broker for S. Katzman Produce Inc., located in the Bronx, NY, told The Produce News Jan. 13. "All tender leaf items like basil and arugula are already strongly affected in both price and supply, as are strawberries. Arugula was up to $35 a case today, and there isn't any around. These items

As would be expected, the end of the holiday season brought the red hot California and Arizona lettuce and leafy green vegetable markets back to earth, but expected rainfall as well as the cold weather in Florida and Texas could produce another spike in the coming weeks. In mid-January, the lettuce market was back below $10 per carton, which is considered the break-even point for lettuce. Many other vegetables were also trading in single digits per carton. This is in stark contrast to November and December, when many vegetable items were in the high teens and the Iceberg lettuce market was in

Todd Hultquist, director of communication and membership for the U.S. Apple Association, said that 2010 is already proving to be a busy year. During the week of Jan. 11, the association's public affairs committee met in Vienna, VA. "This group identifies priority issues for the coming year, which the board then approves at the semi-annual board meeting in late March," Mr. Hultquist told The Produce News. Following are highlights of top priorities identified in a paper compiled by the association in January. USApple said that agricultural labor reform is its top legislative priority. "USApple

A crop report issued Jan. 12 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture showed that this season's nationwide sweet potato crop is one of the larger since 1932. The increase comes despite volume declines, some of which were huge, caused by heavy rains during the harvesting season in Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and Alabama. "California and North Carolina came through with large volumes, which compensated for the losses in the southern states," Charles Walker, executive secretary of the U.S. Sweet Potato Council, headquartered in Columbia, SC, told The Produce News. "This year's crop is reported