Agriculture Ministers’ Meeting

The annual conference of Federal, Provincial and Territorial (FPT) Ministers of Agriculture was held in Fredericton, New Brunswick, from July 19 to 21, 2023. Several items of interest to GCCA members were under discussion, including:

·  Ministers committed to improving supply chain resiliency, including receiving an update from industry on the Grocery Sector Code of Conduct consultations held in May 2023.

·  An update on interprovincial food trade pilot projects. The pilots aim to: address situations like Lloydminster, which lies on the Alberta-Saskatchewan border; explore solutions for meat processing in rural areas that lack slaughter availability, such as in Ontario-Quebec and Ontario-Manitoba border regions; and explore solutions for Ontario’s “Ready to Grow” meat plants for high-volume provincially regulated meat businesses seeking to test market opportunities in other Canadian provinces or territories.”

·  Prevention and preparedness planning for African Swine Fever was also discussed (which AAFC officials raised in meeting with GCCA in June as well). Ministers recognized the importance of increasing Canada’s readiness and capacity to respond to potential disease outbreaks and re-affirmed their commitment to closely collaborate on this issue, and to engage with key players across the value chain by the fall.