The Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB) has launched a 60-day public consultation to solicit feedback on its sustainability indicators for beef processing to ensure sustainability challenges and opportunities for this sector are addressed.
The consultation runs from June 29 to August 29, 2017. All relevant materials can be found at http://crsb.ca/public-consultation-english. Comments will be reviewed, and written responses to each comment will be summarized in a report posted on the CRSB website following the consultation.
Following refinement, a subsequent 30-day round of consultation is expected this fall.
鈥淲ith guidance from a committee of diverse industry expertise, the CRSB has developed sustainability indicators for beef processing that nicely complement the work already done for beef production鈥�, said Cherie Copithorne-Barnes, Chair of the CRSB and cattle producer west of Calgary, AB. 鈥淚 am sure we will continue to receive a broad range of feedback that will help us build a robust framework that is practical for the industry, and satisfies consumer demand.鈥�
Page Stuart, an Alberta cattle feeder and Tim Hardman, Beef Director with the World Wildlife Fund, cochaired the committee that developed the indicators. 鈥淐ommittee members from across the beef value chain contributed diverse perspectives. Dynamic discussions enabled us to reach consensus on a series of indicators encompassing all five principles of sustainable beef that will help the processing industry to continually improve its sustainability practices,鈥� says Hardman. 鈥淏ased on previous feedback, we have incorporated guidelines in the indicators that show how the scoring system is applied. We hope this will help users assess their level of performance and facilitate continuous improvement,鈥� commented Stuart. 鈥淚 look forward to the feedback we receive over the next 60 days,鈥� she added.
Since 2014, the CRSB has worked collaboratively through its multi-stakeholder membership to promote sustainability across the beef industry. Developing a verification framework is part of this work, and the indicators reflect what will be measured to verify sustainable practices. With the completion of public consultation on sustainability indicators for beef production completed earlier this year, the focus has shifted to indicators for beef processing. Note that the current scope of the indicators applies to primary processors only.
