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INTRODUCTION
This document defines the results that the National Farm Products Council (NFPC) intends to achieve in the period 2003-06. It provides the foundation for the Council's annual business planning, evaluation and reporting. Developed during the fall of 2002, the Strategic Plan received final approval from the Council on January 14, 2003.
In this document, the Council assesses the operating environment and sets out a framework for action using two approaches. In the first of these, the Council describes its desired strategic outcomes, defines its planned results, and sets out 17 initiatives for implementation during the three-year period. In the second description, the Council situates these initiatives within the broader construct of the Agricultural Policy Framework (APF), the policy architecture developed by the Government of Canada in co-operation with provincial and territorial governments.
OPERATING ENVIRONMENT
In developing the Strategic Plan, the Council took into account many trends and developments in the Canadian agriculture and agri-food industry. Broadly, the five agencies overseen by the Council were dealing with issues that included:
- consumption trends of poultry and egg products;
- a serious drought that affected feed supplies for the beef cattle, poultry and egg industries;
- favourable economic conditions, including continued growth and a broad-based rise in Canadians' incomes;
- rising productivity and the increased use of technology;
- an increase in the scale of operations of agricultural enterprises;
- developments in the grocery industry; and
- progress and developments in international trade created by existing agreements and through negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO), the advent of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), and Canada's bilateral negotiations with its trade partners.
The Council also consulted its stakeholders for their forward-looking views. The poultry and egg industry, through four national marketing agencies and its industry associations, told the Council that it should operate as:
- an overseer, confirming that agencies fulfill their objects;
- a convenor, able to bring industry leaders together to discuss current and emerging issues; and,
- a leader within the National Association of Agri-food Supervisory Agencies (NAASA).
From its discussions with provincial and territorial supervisory boards, the Council also heard that it should continue with its approach to knowledge leadership for the poultry and egg industry. The boards also encouraged the Council to move ahead with the establishment of new promotion and research agencies. In some cases, they called on the Council to address the administration of, and division between, policy development and implementation inherent in the Agricultural Products Marketing Act (APMA).
Against this broad backdrop, the Council has identified a number of opportunities and challenges to be addressed over the next three years.
These include:
- the conclusion of federal-provincial-territorial agreements with the Canadian Egg Marketing Agency (CEMA), the Canadian Turkey Marketing Agency (CTMA), and the Canadian Broiler Hatching Egg Marketing Agency (CBHEMA);
- challenges in understanding and responding to marketplace developments in the food retail industry;
- opportunities to increase the number of national promotion and research agencies;
- opportunities to adapt the Council's oversight function to new uses in response to issues such as food safety and innovation; and
- the challenge of implementing modern comptrollership—effective, modern management practices—in order to serve Canadians effectively and efficiently.
STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK
The Council's primary role is to ensure that it carries out its legislated mandate. In this context, the Council operates as both an overseer and convenor. In its oversight role, the Council will continue to monitor the operations of the five agencies established under the Farm Products Agencies Act (FPAA), and those of any other agencies that may take shape under this legislation. In its role as convenor, Council will work with agencies to promote more effective marketing of farm products in interprovincial and international trade. Council's activities will also support the federal, provincial and territorial governments in the implementation of the Agricultural Policy Framework (APF).
The Council will continue to bring a forward-looking perspective to discussions with the agencies, associations and agricultural and agri-food leaders about issues and trends. So that it may facilitate forums to discuss issues and their implications, Council will further develop its internal capabilities to support both industry and government in identifying and responding to strategic issues.
In the next three years, Council intends to effect three "strategic outcomes." In the following pages, these are described in general terms and then developed into "planned results" that can be measured to track the Council's progress. The plan also describes the specific "activities" or operations through which the Council will pursue its desired results.
These are the strategic outcomes that the Council shall pursue:
- Marketing and promotion-research agencies operating under the Farm Products Agencies Act work in the balanced interest of all stakeholders.
- Improved strength, competitiveness, market-responsiveness, and profitability of Canadian agriculture and the agri-food industry.
- Efficient, transparent and responsible management of the Council's operations.
The Council intends to bring about these outcomes through the initiatives described below.
| Strategic outcome: Marketing and promotion-research agencies regulated under the Farm Products Agencies Act work in the balanced interest of all stakeholders. |
| Planned result: |
Activity |
| Renewed federal-provincial- territorial agreements between marketing agencies and governments. |
Complete the federal-provincial-territorial agreements with CEMA, CTMA and CBHEMA.
These agreements are the foundation of the supply management system and must be brought up to date. This is a priority area for the Council. |
| An up-to-date legislative and regulatory framework that enables the Council and its supervised agencies to respond to new opportunities including promotion and research responsibilities. |
Conduct consultations on the Farm Products Agencies Act.
The Council will consult with interested parties, including the national marketing agencies, about how the Act should evolve in step with their needs. The review will also examine how to streamline the procedure for establishing promotion and research agencies. |
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Review the Agricultural Products Marketing Act.
The Council will assess whether to advise the Minister to consolidate the responsibilities that are now divided between AAFC, which handles policy matters, and the NFPC, which administers the Act. |
| Strategic outcome: Improved strength, competitiveness, market-responsiveness, and profitability of Canadian agriculture and the agri-food industry. |
| Planned result: |
Activity |
| Improved market-data capture and sharing by industry participants. |
Develop a statistical database for the poultry and egg industry.
As information technology advances, all members of the supply management system should be working from a common base of knowledge about the production, consumption, and international trade of our commodities. Information gaps must narrow and eventually disappear. In order to fulfil its duty to advise the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-food on all aspects of agencies and their farm products, the Council requires credible, timely and accurate data about regulated farm products and their economic contribution in terms of employment and national income. All parties will benefit from a system of shared, accessible, and comparable data. The Council will convene discussions with industry and government in order to advance the development of the database. |
| Improved, consumer-focused collaboration among industry participants and with governments along the poultry and egg supply chains. |
Develop relationships with grocers and the food-service industry.
In order to further its mandate of working in the balanced interest of both producers and consumers, the NFPC will deepen its knowledge of the full length of the supply chains for poultry and eggs. Council will improve its understanding of current trends including the consolidation of the grocery industry so that it may better fulfil its mandate of advising the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-food. |
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Develop opportunities for discussions with poultry and egg industry leaders about trends in the grocery and food-service industries and their possible implications.
As it learns about the grocery and food-service industries, the Council intends to share its knowledge with producers, processors and further processors. It may use awareness-building sessions similar to the previous forums it has held on global trends and strategies. |
| Improved market knowledge among poultry and egg industry participants and government, including a greater awareness of export opportunities |
Support the industry-led development of an export strategy.
As international agreements expand the scope of trade, and as dispute-resolution mechanisms bring greater definition to the rules of these regimes, there is an opportunity for the Canadian poultry and egg industry to define and pursue its export strategy. Through its work in the Poultry Meat Export Working Group, the NFPC can help to advance this work. |
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Develop opportunities for discussions with poultry and egg industry leaders about innovation.
A discussion forum on innovation, similar to previous Council-sponsored gatherings, would offer industry leaders a venue to discuss ways to accelerate innovation and adaptation. |
| Greater awareness among farm product groups about their opportunity to create promotion-research agencies. |
Encourage farm product groups to consider the establishment of promotion-research agencies.
Council will identify potential candidate groups and seek discussions with them about their degree of interest. |
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Initiate discussions with stakeholders about creating new forms of agencies.
New forms of agencies could play useful roles in strengthening Canadian agriculture. For instance, an agency could enable a farm product group to establish quality standards. The Council will hold discussions with farm product groups and other stakeholders about the merits of new agencies. It will also identify the associated legislative requirements. |
| Improved understanding about the socio-economic contribution of the poultry and egg supply management system |
Support a study on supply management and its contribution to the Canadian economy.
It is a fact that the supply management system has benefited Canada through stabilizing production and prices, and it is also true that many decision-makers and influencers do not wholly understand the system. Council could work with a partner, potentially the Canadian Dairy Commission, to bring forward a study that clearly identifies the contribution supply management has made to this country. |
| Strategic outcome: Improved effectiveness and integrity of administration in step with the requirements of modern comptrollership. |
| Planned result: |
Activity |
| Improved effectiveness and integrity of administration by implementing modern comptrollership |
Create a pro-comptrollership climate.
Modern comptrollership supplements traditional financial accountability with modern managerial principles and standards, enabling public service managers to help achieve better results through setting priorities, planning effectively, and reaching goals. The approach replaces complex rules and regulations that constrain flexibility and focus on authorized financial transactions. In this new climate, departmental managers bear responsibility for transforming organizational culture and practices. |
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Conduct a capacity assessment of Council's operations.
The capacity assessment will evaluate the Council's modern-comptrollership capabilities and identify improvements in areas such as processes, competencies, and systems. The assessment forms the basis for an action plan to achieve modern comptrollership. |
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Improve internal accountability and communication.
As a public institution, the Council must always manage its operations prudently and in ways that promote the public interest. The Council will ensure that its internal operations meet the standard expected of the modern public service. As well, the NFPC will continue with the implementation of its governance project, publish the manual it has developed over the past year, and circulate the manual to interested parties as a possible example for them to consider in their own governance initiatives. |
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Develop a succession plan.
During the life of this strategic plan, key staff members are expected to retire from the public service. They represent a corporate memory that must be preserved in order for the Council to understand how supply management has successfully evolved. There are no other groups within government that understand the supply managed feather industries as well as these senior staff members and so it is essential that their expertise be replaced.> |
| Improved capacity to work with agencies, farm product groups, and other stakeholders in strengthening Canadian agriculture. |
Improve analytical and prescriptive capacity.
The staff of the Council will broaden and deepen their awareness and understanding of operating conditions and expected developments in agriculture and agri-food in order to strengthen the quality of advice provided through Council to the government and the perspectives shared with external stakeholders. |
| Improved understanding within strategic constituencies about the Council's "agency oversight" role. |
Improve communications with stakeholders and develop relationships with new strategic constituencies.
Improvements in communications capacity and effectiveness enable organizations to fulfil their missions. The Government of Canada has placed a priority on communicating with Canadians to increase their understanding of the government's role and contribution to society. Council has devoted significant attention to improving its communications products and targeting the strategic constituencies with whom it must either enhance existing relationships or develop new ones. This work will continue as this strategy is implemented. |
APF LINKAGES
This section describes how the Strategic Plan supports the APF. It does not introduce new strategic outcomes, results, or initiatives. Instead it links these, as they are described above, to the structure of the APF. For each APF theme, this section describes how the Council's work will contribute to the framework's success.
Business risk management
The APF acknowledges supply management as a tool for business risk management. The Council will work to ensure that the supply management system continues to operate effectively in the balanced interests of all stakeholders including producers and consumers, and that its contributions are better understood.
Initiatives:
- FPA completion – to adapt the system to current needs
- FPAA consultations – to ensure that supply management provides the poultry and egg industry with optimal legislative and regulatory support.
- APMA review – to develop greater coherence between marketing policy development and implementation.
- Supply-management study – to improve the understanding of the contributions that supply management has made since its introduction in Canada.
Food safety and quality
The framework sets food-safety goals that include a reduced exposure to hazards and increased consumer confidence in the safety and quality of Canadian-produced food. The APF discusses the need for close co-operation between government and industry to further these goals, and includes the prospect of program funding.
The Council believes that an opportunity may exist for new industry-run agencies that operate under a revised FPAA. For instance, there may be a useful role for an industry-financed, FPAA-based agency that deals with standards for food products.
The Council will initiate discussions with farm product groups and associations to determine whether this potential new role for regulated agencies should be developed further.
Initiative:
- Encourage farm product groups to consider the establishment of agencies for new roles beyond marketing and promotion and research.
Environment
The framework's goals include the sustainable use of water, air and soil and the compatibility of biodiversity and agriculture. These goals lie beyond the NFPC's mandate.
Renewal and innovation
Renewal goals include increased producer profitability and a greater capacity to meet market demand with a stable supply of quality food that is safe and reasonably priced. These profitability and capacity goals require the poultry and egg industry to improve its knowledge of marketplace trends, its ability to forecast developments, and its ability to strategize effectively.
To support this goal, the Council will build upon its knowledge-development initiatives. Previous initiatives have been successful. The Council has convened industry discussions on profitability, global marketing trends, and other issues. It will pursue a number of other ideas to strengthen the poultry and egg industry.
The APF also aims to create an innovation climate and to improve coordination along the value chain so that new knowledge and technology may be drawn into the industry.
Initiatives:
- Develop a statistical database for the poultry and egg industry to improve the accuracy of marketplace data available to both industry and government.
- Develop relationships with the grocery and food service industries, so that renewal programming contributes best to market-responsiveness.
- Create discussion opportunities between poultry and egg industry leaders and the grocery and food service industries about consumer trends and their possible implications.
- Support the industry-led development of an export strategy, so that industry participants may take up the challenge of developing new markets.
- Encourage farm product groups to consider the establishment of promotion and research agencies.
- Develop opportunities for discussions with poultry and egg industry leaders about innovation.
Maximizing international opportunities
In addition to building domestic infrastructure, the APF includes a goal of gaining recognition for Canada's world-leadership in food safety, innovation and environmentally responsible production.
The Council will further this goal by advancing the work already begun within the Poultry Meat Export Working Group, through which government and industry are attempting to increase the Canadian share of markets abroad.
Initiative:
- Support the industry-led development of an export strategy, so that industry participants may take up the challenge of developing new markets.
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