Agricultural Policy Framework Consultations - Phase 1 Final Report

Agricultural Policy Framework Consultations
March 27 - June 19, 2002

1. Introduction

2. Wave 1: March 27 - April 30, 2002

3. Wave 2: June 10 - 19, 2002

1. INTRODUCTION

In June 2001, federal, provincial and territorial Ministers of Agriculture agreed on an action plan to develop an architecture for agricultural policy to contribute to the sector's growth and profitability in the 21st century. This Agricultural Policy Framework (APF) consists of five elements:

• Business Risk Management;
• Renewal;
• Food Safety and Food Quality;
• Environment; and
• Science and Innovation.

The goal of the APF is to support greater profits in the sector by ensuring that Canada is positioned as the world leader in food safety and food quality, innovation and environmentally responsible production. This international positioning would be accomplished, in part, through an integrated "Branding Canada" strategy. The APF also aims to deliver considerable benefits for Canadians by promoting increased environmental stewardship and more complete food safety and food quality assurance systems.

Prior to and following the June 2001 agreement, there were extensive informal discussions and consultations with a wide range of interested parties.

In March 2002, the Government of Canada, in partnership with the provinces, territories and industry began a series of formal national consultations on the APF. Governments were committed to ensuring that all those affected by the policy were engaged in the consultations and had an opportunity to provide input. This included stakeholders from the agriculture and agri-food sector, with representatives from across the value chain (e.g., producers, processors, distributors and retailers), as well as non-traditional stakeholders such as consumers, environmental groups, academics and other stakeholders.

Consultations were conducted in two waves, as well as through mail-in forms and the Internet . The first wave was held between March 27 and April 30, 2002. The objective of Wave One was to receive input from participants on the general direction of the APF and on the proposed goals for each of the elements. The results of these consultations were reported to federal, provincial and territorial (FPT) Ministers at a meeting in Ottawa on May 06, 2002.

Stakeholders' input had an impact on the development of the APF and influenced the subsequent detailed proposals that Agriculture Ministers discussed at their May meeting. Following that meeting, Ministers announced that further consultations would occur on these more detailed proposals.

The second wave of consultations took place between June 10 and June19,2002. Wave Two provided participants with an opportunity to comment on Wave One results and engaged stakeholders in a more detailed discussion on each of the elements of the APF. It was aimed at receiving input from participants on changes to the framework and proposed implementation measures outlined in the documentation. The results from the second wave of consultations were provided to Ministers at their annual FPT Meeting in Halifax on June 27, 2002.

In addition to the consultative meetings, more than two hundred individuals submitted written comments during the consultations, providing their input by mail, fax and e-mail.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada engaged GPC International as a neutral third party to organize, conduct and report on the results and findings of these two waves of national consultations. In addition to managing the logistics associated with the consultations, GPC staff served as independent facilitators and reporters for the discussions held at each of the meetings.

GPC produced reports for each of the meetings as well as summary reports, all of which are available on this site.

This document summarizes the input from both waves of consultations, with views drawn from the sessions themselves and from participants' evaluations provided in exit surveys. In addition, this document distills written comments received by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada directly and via the APF Web site.

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