July 19, 2019 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced that the mango industry favored the amendment to expand the national research and promotion program to include coverage of frozen mangos. First handlers and importers of fresh and frozen mangos voted in the referendum.
In the referendum, 52.5 percent of first handlers and importers of fresh and frozen mangos were in favor of the amendment to the program. The amendment was published in the Federal Register on Feb. 21, 2019, and was effective March 25, 2019. Assessments of frozen mangos begin on July 22, 2019.
Voting was open to first handlers who received 500,000 or more pounds of fresh mangos from producers and to importers who imported 500,000 or more pounds of fresh mangos or 200,000 or more pounds of frozen mangos into the United States from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2017.
The National Mango Board recommended that USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) amend the regulations regarding the fresh mango national research and promotion program to include frozen mangos and allow frozen mango stakeholders to participate in a coordinated effort to maintain and expand the market for mangos in the United States.
Research and promotion programs help to expand, maintain and develop markets for individual commodities in the United States and abroad. Since 1966, Congress has authorized the development of industry-funded research and promotion boards to provide a framework for agricultural industries to pool their resources and combine efforts to develop new markets, strengthen existing markets, and conduct important research and promotion activities. AMS provides oversight of 22 boards, paid for by industry assessments, which helps ensure fiscal accountability and program integrity.
More information about the board is available on the National Mango Board page on the AMS website and on the board’s website, Mango.org.
