USDA referendum to decide future of National Mango Board. Vote concludes November 12.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) will hold a referendum to decide whether the Mango Promotion, Research and Information Order—and, by extension, the National Mango Board (NMB)—will continue operating.
The polls opened on October 22 and will receive ballots through November 12 at midnight. The vote is open to mango importers and first handlers working with at least 500,000 pounds of fresh mangos per year. Eligible parties should have already received ballots.
But the vote is not an anomaly, but a regular industry practice. These handlers and importers pay a mandatory annual fee that funds the order, and every five years they get to vote on whether the program will continue operating.
The funds are administered by the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) and used by the NMB to carry out marketing, research, and consumer education programs.
The referendum will decide the NMB's future
The NMB's mission is to drive category growth and increase the fruit's consumption by providing support and education throughout the entire supply chain.
If the majority of investors in the order vote 'no', the agency would follow termination procedures and conduct rule-making to remove the provisions of the order. Funding for the board would also cease.
The board urged members to participate in the vote this year, as "this decision will shape the future of our efforts to grow mango demand in the US."
USDA spokesperson Tabitha Bartley emphasized the importance of these programs, saying they are a significant help for the produce industry to expand its reach, both domestically and internationally.
"Through these self-help programs, commodity groups can conduct production research, marketing R&D, consumer education and information, industry information, advertising, promotion, marketing, and crisis management," she explained.
A brief history of the Mango Promotion, Research, and Information Rule
The Mango Promotion, Research, and Information Rule is part of the Commodity Promotion, Research, and Information Act of 1996.
The rule became formally effective on November 3, 2004, after a majority of importers and first handlers of fresh mangos approved it. The USDA reports this cohort "represented the majority of the pounds produced or imported during the representative period."
Since then, major handlers and importers of the tropical fruit have also voted on where the funds are allocated and which products are promoted. The rule has been amended 10 times to date.
In 2019, the provision was updated to include frozen mangos "as a covered commodity under the order."
But the change was short-lived. In 2021, the board petitioned to hold an additional referendum to "confirm the parameters of the program," and as a result, the USDA removed the inclusion of frozen mangoes from the order.
Other changes were also made during that time, such as revising “mangos” to mean all fresh fruit of Mangifera indica L. of the family Anacardiaceae.
Related stories:
National Mango Board and its role in the United States market
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