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Farmed Animals Working Group

National Farmed Animal Health Strategy
(NFAHS)

October 31, 2007

Working Paper Summary Report

< ROLES TO BE ACHIEVED: ANIMAL CARE

Table of Contents

PATHWAYS FORWARD >

AN INITIAL EXPLORATION OF THE CURRENT SYSTEM

A select group of participants from various backgrounds expressed their candid opinions in an exercise to consider the current National Farmed Animal Health System. Their thoughts on the strengths and weaknesses of the current system are summarized in Table 3, while those on the opportunities and threats for the future are summarized in Table 4.

STRENGTHS	WEAKNESSES
governance system has a comprehensive infrastructure which offers flexibility effective regulatory framework and authority base livestock industry is well led and managed, and is now achieving collaboration amongst sectors strong intellectual expertise capacity good international reputation and influence livestock industry has a range of business and marketing models Canadian agricultural media is an asset	current system is disjointed, fragmented, and disunited it is not understood how it works with no communication or exchange programs to promote this understanding lack the ability to address unknown threats export market success is also a vulnerability limited investment in innovation, application and policy development human resources not effectively organized resistance to change, some prefer status quo benign neglect and apathy to current policy gaps limited common vision and mission insufficient understanding of real interests and needs of all players despite international influence, has not been effective for industry current regulations not effective for drugs and biologics industry sectors insular and take commodity specific approach disparate groups in farmed animal industry all industry sectors not organized the same positive features of farmed animal industry not communicated well no consumer representative farmed animal health not connected with farmed animal care

Table 3. Strengths and Weaknesses of the Current System

OPPORTUNITIES

THREATS

to impact farmed animal health via NAHS and Growing Forward
to effect a change
to learn from the past, positive and negative lessons
to create an independent “brain trust”
to use foresight for farmed animal health
to learn the agendas of all players
to extend industry commercial interests to other Departments and agencies
for more exchanges amongst governments, industry and academia
to create a more nimble system
to enhance engagements with other allied industries and groups
to consider future use of genetically modified animals
to influence new decision makers
to establish equitable global standards

loss of human resource expertise because of changing demographics
benign neglect and complacency
lack of continuity because of changes in “decision makers”
policy development not taking account of the impact on the farmed animal industry
future role of genetically modified animals and artificially produced food
current international outbreak solutions may not be implementable in Canada
advocacy groups could assume a role as the voice of the public and dictate to industry
imported goods that don’t comply with Canadian standards
large number of uninspected goods
current lack of economic viability
dependence of major sectors on high tariff barriers and on export markets.

Table 4. Opportunities and Threats of the Current System

Summary thoughts on the Current System:

Leadership is inadequate to meet present needs and there is insufficient preparation for future challenges and threats. In fact, the present system may actually prevent leadership from emerging.
The present governance system lacks coordination and decisiveness, and is neither effective nor nimble.
The roles and responsibilities of the system’s components are not defined. Accountabilities are unclear and other than through political or legal channels, there is no dispute resolution mechanism.
While there is good preparation for a disease outbreak, there is insufficient early warning and mitigation of potential threats. Therefore damage to the livestock industry is produced before action is undertaken. This demands recovery measures which are economically demanding and difficult, but which have proven to be inadequate, considering the mix of public good and private good. Prevention provides the best return on investment.
The federal Health of Animals Act and Regulations are good but it is restricted to the 32 reportable diseases for mandatory action, leaving many diseases, destructive to the livestock industry, unaddressed with no mechanism to act quickly if so required.
Response to disease outbreaks has been good with good cooperation under crisis mode, but disease transmission has not been adequately addressed.

The mechanism to support recovery after a disease outbreak has been slow and insufficient to meet or be relevant to need.

The effect of the current system has been to focus on emergencies through preparation and response. There has not been sufficient proactive avoidance of diseases, a rapid enough response to non-reportable diseases, nor adequate support for recovery to minimize the damage to the farmed animal industry.

There has been insufficient proactive thinking and planning to capitalize on the opportunities of the future, and inadequate preparation for the threats of the future, which may be new or modifications of old threats.

NOTE TO READER:
These documents are works in progress. The substantive content is for discussion purposes and reflects initial perspectives of officials in the National Animal Health Strategy. They will evolve and improve with feedback from readers. These documents do not represent the position of the Government of Canada.