Four key board members from poultry associations in the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region visited the U.S. June 22 to 29. The delegation met with major U.S. poultry producers’ associations to learn best practices and how similar associations function. UEP’s SVP of Food Safety Regulatory Affairs Oscar Garrison hosted the group on June 26 along with Dr. Deanna Jones and Jeff Hendricks from USDA.

L to R: Dr. Deanna Jones, Fethi Ghraieb, Yousef Alaoui, Dr. Sayed Shalash, Dr. Tharwat El Zeiny, Oscar Garrison, Dr. Miguel Escobar, Jeff Hendricks

The delegation included:  Dr. Tharwat El Zeiny, vice chairman of the Egyptian Poultry Association; Dr. Sayed Shalash, consultant, Egyptian Poultry Association; Fethi Ghraieb, president of the Tunisian National Poultry Producers’ (GIPAC) (poultry farmers’ group) board of directors and president of the Ghraieb Poultry Integrated Group; and Yousef Alaoui, president of Federation of Poultry Associations (FISA) from Morocco. Dr. Miguel Escobar, from USSEC accompanied the group.