The American Meat Institute announced in a press release on Wednesday that its board of directors has voted to proceed with a merger with the North American Meat association (NAMA). The vote is the second of three steps necessary to complete the merger that would occur on January 1, 2015, if all approvals are received. NAMA’s board approved the merger on March 22. Later this month, AMI’s general members will vote on whether to proceed with the merger.
If AMI’s members vote to approve the merger, a transition committee made up of members of both organizations will be established to create a plan to merge association operations by the close of this year.
“The board’s vote to proceed with a merger is a positive development,” sad Greg Benedict, AMI chairman and COO and president of American Foods Group. “We look forward to our general member vote in the coming weeks.”