Key food safety experts will be integrated into Government Relations and Science & Technology teams to amplify advocacy efforts and deliver more valuable resources to members
The International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA) has announced a reorganisation to enhance and amplify its goals in the areas of produce safety and food safety regulations.
Under the new structure, IFPA’s regulatory and compliance expert, Dr Paul Lewis, will join the Government Relations Team and report to chief global policy officer Alexis Taylor.
Other members of the Food Safety team including Dr Angie Fraser, vice president of food safety and quality; Dr Jorge Quintanilla, food safety manager; and Alison Saltzmann, food safety support coordinator, will join the Science and Technology (SciTech) team under Dr Max Teplitski.
“Food safety is foundational to our industry’s success,” said Teplitski. “Aligning our experts across our Advocacy and Science teams will help us deliver on the strategic imperatives to future proof our industry, garner worldwide influence, and create more valuable and personalised touchpoints and resources for our members.
”Food safety is a shared responsibility across every role and every step of the supply chain; and it’s a central part to all of the work the SciTech team does including the on-going work in packaging, FSMA 204 readiness, regenerative ag, and the Supply Chain of the Future initiative.”
Alexis Taylor is IFPA’s chief global policy officer and drives the association’s global public policy agenda through leading IFPA’s Government Relations team.
Prior to joining the organisation in January, she served as the under secretary of trade and foreign agricultural affairs at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), where she oversaw the US Codex Alimentarius office, the international food safety standard-setting body.
Teplitski is the chief science officer at IFPA, overseeing supply chain, packaging, sustainability, innovation and data portfolios.
The SciTech team also includes the portfolios for the supply chain, agri technology, sustainability, and the global intelligence team which delivers on IFPA’s proprietary research and analysis, serving as critical advisors to the Government Relations team at IFPA.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Paul officially to the Government Relations team,” said Taylor.
“While we’ve always worked across our teams effectively, this alignment allows us to more meaningfully commit government advocacy resources to food safety on the industry’s behalf in DC and in priority global regions.
”There are growing pressures on how, where, how much and when we grow and deliver fruits and vegetables across the world,” she outlined.
”This reorganisation will help us to discover and advocate for the most powerful solutions and strategies to ensuring our industry is positioned to not only address these growing challenges but find the opportunities in them as well.”
IFPA noted that, while the reorganisation goes into effect immediately, it will not result in any changes to work planned for 2025 or any volunteer leadership activities.
