The Ecuador Trade Office in Chicago launched a campaign May 15 to extend trade agreements between Ecuador and the United States that expire July 31. Unless either the Andean Trade Promotion & Drug Eradication Act or the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences program are renewed by an act of the U.S. Congress, tariffs on imported products from Ecuador will be imposed and their prices will likely increase.

The Alaskan peony industry is enjoying a growth spurt, according to a new report by two university researchers, Patricia S. Holloway and Kathleen Buchholz of the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. They stated that commercial peony growing began there in 2004, with small test plots of 20 plants. By 2012, that number had grown to 120,000. With an average yield of 10 stems per plant, the harvest is projected to be 1.2 million fresh-cut peony stems by 2015.

A giant globe made of succulent plants will be on display at one of the six growers on the Monterey Bay Greenhouse Growers fourth annual open house tours on June 15. The floral masterpiece of living plants that accurately represents the world was two years in the making. It is the brainchild of Succulent Gardens owner Robin Stockwell. And, he said in an interview, “It spins.”

On May 25, the U.S. Department of Agriculture expanded its import inspections on a non-overtime basis at Miami International Airport for the first time in 66 years. Christine Boldt, executive vice president of the Association of Floral Importers of Florida, said the agency added an entomologist at its Miami Inspection Station on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Previously, the station had done inspections on Saturdays only when importers paid for overtime

If you are confused by the array of certification labels for cut flowers and foliage, stand back: here comes another one. The California Cut Flower Commission has decided it will develop a new sustainability certification exclusively for California flowers, according to Kasey Cronquist, its chief executive officer and ambassador.

Exhibit space for the OFA Short Course in Columbus, OH, July 13-16, is sold out and a waiting list has been established. The association said in a May 10 news release that the seven-acre trade show will have about 585 companies occupying more than 1,500 exhibit spaces.