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The California Department of Food and Agriculture will host two listening sessions on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Proposed Fresh Produce and Preventive Control Rules.
The Proposed Fresh Produce Rule will be presented on Tuesday, April 9, in Tulare, and both the Proposed Fresh Produce and Preventive Control Rules will be presented on Thursday, April 11, in Woodland.
The listening sessions are sponsored by the California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF); California Farm Bureau Federation (CFBF); Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF); and Western Growers Association (WGA).
The listening sessions are scheduled as follows:
- April 9: Proposed Fresh Produce Rule from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the International Agri-Center, 4500 S. Laspina St., Tulare, CA 93274.
- April 11: Proposed Fresh Produce Rule from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and Proposed Preventive Controls Rule from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Heidrick Ag History Center, 1962 Hays Lane, Woodland, CA 95776.
The FDA FSMA was signed into law by President Obama on Jan. 4, 2011. It aims to ensure the U.S. food supply is safe by shifting the focus of federal regulators from responding to incidents to preventing them.
On Jan. 4, 2013, FDA issued two major proposed FSMA rules regarding preventive controls in human food and produce safety.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture will be hosting public listening sessions in California concerning the two proposed rules.
The purpose of the listening sessions will be to provide industry an overview of the proposed rules, solicit comments, respond to questions, and inform the public about the rulemaking process.
Invited speakers include: Michael Taylor, deputy commissioner for Foods & Veterinary Medicine, U.S. Food & Drug Administration; Dr. Jeff Farrar, director of Intergovernmental Affairs & Partnerships, Office of Foods & Veterinary Medicine, U.S. Food & Drug Administration; Barbara Cassens, senior advisor/acting director, Office of Partnerships, U.S. Food & Drug Administration; Sandra Schubert, undersecretary, CDFA; James R. Gorny, Ph.D., senior advisor for Produce Safety, U.S. Food & Drug Administration; Jenny Scott, senior advisor, Office of Food Safety, U.S. Food & Drug Administration; Rick S. Jensen, director, Division of Inspection Services, CDFA; and, Patrick Kennelly, chief, Food Safety Section, California Department of Public Health.
For more information about the FSMA listening sessions, including agenda and registration, visit www.cdfa.ca.gov/is/fsma.html .
Due to limited space you must preregister; there is no cost for registration.
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NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Partnership HealthPlan of California (PHC), the public nonprofit agency that administers Medi-Cal benefits in six Northern California counties will hold a jobs fair at its Fairfield location on Tuesday, April 9.
The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Interested participants are asked to bring a resume and be prepared for an interview. Partnership HealthPlan of California is located at 4665 Business Center Drive in Fairfield.
More than 100 positions of all types and skill levels will open up at PHC in the next 12 months and the organization is looking to fill them.
“With health care reform, changes in state-run health programs and expansion into new counties, PHC is in a significant growth mode,” said Jack Horn, chief executive officer of Partnership HealthPlan of California. This is an exciting time of change, and our infrastructure and staffing levels are growing to meet the challenges that the future holds for health care.”
Part of PHC’s growth relates to the planned expansion of its services to eight new counties later this year.
In addition to its current service area of Solano, Napa, Yolo, Sonoma, Marin and Mendocino counties, PHC will soon bring managed care Medi-Cal to Humboldt, Trinity, Del Norte, Lassen, Lake, Modoc, Shasta and Siskiyou counties.
“The expansion of Medi-Cal eligibility will also grow our membership,” Horn said. “Federal and state efforts to provide health care access to more low-income residents means more members for PHC. We take this added responsibility very seriously and are working hard to plan for growth so our new members can expect the same level of quality service as our current members receive.”
Partnership HealthPlan of California currently has 325 employees. Due to rapid growth and a greatly expanded service area, PHC expects to make many of the new slots “teleworker” positions.
Currently, about 8 percent of PHC’s total staff work from home. That figure will likely increase to 20 to 25 percent over the next 18 months.
The positions featured at the April 9 jobs fair range from entry level clerical positions to physicians and other medical professionals.
Partnership HealthPlan of California is a public nonprofit organization that began operating in 1994.
Additional information about PHC can be found at www.partnershiphp.org .
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The California Department of Food and Agriculture is announcing four vacancies on the Feed Inspection Advisory Board.
The board makes regulatory and enforcement recommendations to the department to help ensure that commercial feed inspections contribute to a clean and wholesome supply of milk, meat and eggs.
Vacancies are for commercial feed industry representatives. Applicants should hold a current California Commercial Feed License. The term of office for board members is up to three years.
Members receive no compensation, but are entitled to payment of necessary traveling expenses in accordance with the rules of the Department of Personnel Administration.
Individuals interested in serving on the Feed Inspection Advisory Board should send a resume by April 5, 2013, to the California Department of Food and Agriculture – Feed and Livestock Drugs Inspection Program, 1220 “N” St., Sacramento, California 95814-5607, Attention: Maria Hicks.
For further information on the Feed Inspection Advisory Board and vacancies, contact Maria Hicks at 916-900-5022 or email
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SACRAMENTO—The Assembly Committee on Insurance passed legislation today that would create the Self-Employment Assistance (SEA) Program in California and allow some unemployed workers to focus on creating a microbusiness while claiming jobless benefits.
The bill, AB 152, authored by Assemblymember Mariko Yamada (D-Davis), passed from the committee on a 9-2 vote.
Yamada noted that, despite signs of economic recovery, many Californians are still unemployed and the state needs to consider options like SEA.
“The Self Employment Assistance Program recognizes the rapidly evolving labor market in a time of continued high unemployment,” Yamada said. “SEA provides another pathway to reemployment by promoting entrepreneurship and microenterprise development.”
The SEA program would focus on a subset of unemployed workers identified as likely to exhaust their unemployment benefits without becoming reemployed. The Congressional Research Service reported recently that SEA participants in other states were more likely to become self-employed or gain other employment.
“A SEA program turns unemployed workers into employers,” says Claudia Viek, C.E.O. of the California Association for Micro Enterprise Opportunity. “Often these folks are over fifty; their job has gone away; and they can best support their family by starting a business.”
Passage of AB 152 would also permit California to apply for $5.3 million in federal funding.
The bill is now headed to the Assembly Committee on Appropriations for consideration later this spring.