USDA Announces Appointments to the Paper and Packaging Board

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the appointment of three members to serve on the Paper and Packaging Board. The appointees from the South Region will serve three-year terms beginning immediately to Dec. 31, 2025, and one appointee from the Rest of the U.S. Region will serve a one-year term beginning immediately to Dec. 31, 2023.

Members appointed are:

• Santiago Arbelaez, Memphis, TN (South Region)
• Alpa Sutaria, Atlanta, GA (South Region)
• Jonathan A. Kraft, Foxborough, MA (Rest of U.S. Region)

The Paper and Packaging Board has 8 members, including 7 domestic manufacturers and one importer. Members can serve up to two consecutive three-year terms.

More information about the board is available on the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Paper and Packaging Board webpage.

Since 1966, Congress has authorized industry-funded research and promotion boards to provide a framework for agricultural industries to pool resources and combine efforts to develop new markets, strengthen existing markets and conduct important research and promotion activities. AMS provides oversight to 22 boards. The oversight ensures fiscal accountability and program integrity and is paid for by industry assessments.

AMS policy is that diversity of the boards, councils and committees it oversees should reflect the diversity of their industries in terms of the experience of members, methods of production and distribution, marketing strategies, and other distinguishing factors, including but not limited to individuals from historically underserved communities, that will bring different perspectives and ideas to the table. Throughout the full nomination process, the industry must conduct extensive outreach, paying particular attention to reaching underserved communities, and consider the diversity of the population served and the knowledge, skills and abilities of the members to serve a diverse population.

Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture