New RAAWG Process

P.O. Box 238 | Carleton Place ON, Canada | K7C 3P4 www.pfac.com (416) 447-9970 petfood@pfac.com New RAAWG Process Proposed New Process Introduction The goal of the newly developed process is to add more structure to the RAAWG, so its work will be more focused and split up by interest and expertise. A steering committee of Board members will oversee all aspects of the RAAWG. They will decide if and when a sub-working group is needed and will support staff. There will be two mechanisms by which members can participate: At a town hall meeting, where anyone is welcome and if you want to speak you will have to meet criteria to do so to present your issues. The second will be sub-groups, which will be small, focused, and working towards objectives in various topic areas. The following is more detail on how each aspect will work: 1. RAAWG Steering Committee a. Made up of 3-4 Board members who are highly engaged on the RAAWG b. Will help decide overall strategy of the RAAWG and support CFIA relationship building c. Will decide and vet whether a RAAWG sub-committee needs to be created d. Helps to engage other members to participate 2. RAAWG Townhall Meetings a. To happen quarterly to start b. Agenda is built well in advance, with help of RAAWG Chair and will be broken down into four potential parts: i. Sub-group reports ii. Individual issues (vetted and meeting criteria) – member must request, follow criteria, and lead the discussion – or can share info with Chris and he can lead if the member wants to remain anonymous iii. Trends identified through staff engagement with members iv. Government consultation or emerging regulations that could impact the pet food industry c. We will align a townhall meeting with Dialogue if possible www.pfac.com (416) 447-9970 petfood@pfac.com 3. RAAWG Sub-groups a. When there are industry-wide issues, or upcoming regulations, consultations etc., then the steering committee can decide to create a sub- group to work on it. b. Not every issue that a member raises will go to a sub-group c. Led by one of the steering committee members (if possible) or someone who raised the issue, or has expertise in it d. Discuss current issues, trends, and any member issues that link to that sub-group i. Examples could include export markets, import, environmental regulations, US regulations/AAFCO e. Report back to the townhall meetings on a regular basis 4. Transparency and Reporting • Meeting minutes for all sub-groups, and town halls will be available to all members via the regulatory forum • Meeting agendas will be built well in advance, and shared to all members prior to the townhall meetings • The criteria for building the agenda, and how a member can feed into that process and have time allocated for their issues will be clear, and shared with all members • All issues will be tracked in a tracker, and shared via the regulatory forum 5. Criteria for Member Issues becoming Agenda Items • For a member to be allocated time on the agenda of a town hall meeting, they must meet the following criteria, while always keeping in mind the PFAC Anti- trust / competition policy: o Issues that are specific to a single company may be submitted to the agenda, however, individual issues will be reviewed by Chris and the RAAWG Chair prior to addition to the agenda.  The desired goal for presenting this issue should be declared (E.g., for sharing an issue for awareness of other members, or for seeking input of other members – the latter of which can be done during the meeting, or anonymously through Chris). If people are unsure of the suitability of their topic for the agenda, they should check with Chris prior to requesting time o They need to provide background information, examples, detail on the issue(s), and lead the discussion during the townhall meeting o The submission can be anonymous, but the above criteria still apply and Chris can lead the discussion, with information provided via the submission. www.pfac.com (416) 447-9970 petfood@pfac.com o They will be allocated 15-20 minutes to raise the issue, with discussion and questions to follow 6. Criteria for a Sub-group being created • There has to be enough issues in the same category (import, export, US regulation, environmental regulation etc.) that it necessitates a sub-group • If there is an emerging issue or proposed regulation from the Canadian government that would impact the whole industry, then a sub-group can be created to deal with that, and provide comments as part of the consultation process • Not all issues will fall into a sub-group, and issues will be prioritized by the steering committee based on the impact to the industry as a whole, priority, if its acute or ongoing etc., at the discretion of the steering committee and staff 7. Frequency of Meetings • The Town Hall meetings will happen at least quarterly to start, with one timed to align with the Dialogue meeting and one possibly to align with the annual conference • Steering Committee meetings will happen as needed • Sub-group meeting frequencies will be decided by the sub-group leader and members, and depending on the urgency and priority of the topic area