Over the past few months, Wharf42, Western Growers & Platform10 have been working closely with the Board and membership of the Biological Products Industry Alliance (BPIA). Back in April, Dennis Donohue and I spoke at the BPIA Annual Meeting in Sacramento to secure support for Platform10. On Wednesday, these discussions came to a head with the signing of a formal Memorandum of Understanding on the Summit floor.

The MOU is significant. 
 

Under the terms of the MOU, BPIA will create a Task Force of members to support Platform10's grower-led US Field Trial program. This includes working with representatives of other participating members of Platform10 to develop;

1. product criteria for applications for participation;
2. a transparent, multi-stakeholder review process for applications;
3. appropriate field-testing protocols for products accepted into the program;
4. reporting protocols for study findings; and
5. grower education and outreach strategies and programming to support grower adoption of assessed products.

BPIA's support is significant for Platform10. As the key biologicals industry group in North America, BPIA routinely engages with key regulators at USEPA, USDA, Canada’s PMRA, and the states including the California DPR; individual members officially represent BPIA on the PRIA Coalition and EPA’s Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee (PPDC); other members cover key stakeholder meetings and often provide comments on behalf of the industry. The alignment between Platform10's purpose and BPIA's key objectives are fully represented in this MOU.