Mink Code Development Progress Report
THE BEGINNING (NOVEMBER 2010)
The first meeting of the Code Development Committee (CDC) was a day and a half meeting held on November 3rd and 4th, 2010 in Toronto. It was a joint committee meeting for both Mink and Fox CDCs.
On November 4th those who wished to participate from the CDCs were invited to join on a tour of a mink ranch. The tour provided an excellent opportunity for members of the CDC who weren’t overly familiar with mink farming to see a modern day Canadian mink farm.
On day 2, the main objectives for the meeting were:
- to provide CDC members with a knowledge of NFACC, the scope of the project which includes Code Development, the Code Process and commodity specific timelines, and NFACC process logistics
- to establish guidelines for how this committee would function
- to establish a preliminary list of 3-6 priority welfare issues to be sent to the Scientists Committee for discussion and input and ultimately agreement of the two committees
- to begin to identify broad topics which should be included in the Code for Mink
The NFACC Code Development Process, which includes details on the codes, member responsibilities, CDC representation, and how the process works was reviewed. The review included discussion on the Code Guiding Principles. Some of the guiding principles include:
- be based on sound science and other acceptable knowledge sources.
- include recommended practices, which are practical, manageable and consider the economic impact of any recommendation.
- strive for continuous improvement in animal care through recommendations that promote sound management and welfare practices
- take into consideration other standards or Codes that may have implications for Canadian producers, in order to promote the continued sustainability of Canadian animal agriculture.
For full details on the Code Guiding Principles, see NFACC Code Development Process which is available at: www.nfacc.ca/code-development-process.
The committee had a lengthy discussion about what participating on the committee meant. The group agreed to some core values and ground rules to guide themselves going forward.
The Code Committee reviewed the summary of input they submitted for possible topics for the priority welfare issues list. From this list, the group established a short list of topics. They felt a review of the scientific literature would benefit the code development discussions and that sufficient literature might be available for this short list of topics. Subsequent to the meeting this list was forwarded to the Scientists Committee for their review and input. Both committees came to agreement on the priority welfare topics. The final priority welfare topics agreed to are available at: www.nfacc.ca/codes-of-practice/mink.
The discussion relating to the broad topics for the Code did not progress as far as hoped. It was agreed to strike a smaller group to rework the draft TOC that was provided as part of the meeting package to review and send out the larger committee for discussion at the next meeting.
MEETING #2: JANUARY 2011
The Mink CDC had a one-day meeting on January 17th in Toronto. The meeting opened with a recap of the discussion relating to committee function from the first meeting. The CDC used the values identified at the first meeting along with guidance from the NFACC documents to develop the following mission statement:
To develop a practical science-based welfare code that establishes a national industry standard for the care and handling of mink that provides confidence to the public and contributes to the sustainability of mink farming in Canada.
- Mink Industry Code Development Committee January 2011
The objectives were:
- to agree to the broad topics that should be included in the Code
- to review the draft sections provided
- to look forward to provide guidance to the secretary for drafting some of the next sections.
The group reviewed and modified the draft of the Code Structure as revised by the sub-committee coming out of the first meeting. It was recognized at the meeting that while all these topics would need to be covered in the code, it was very likely that the category headings and order within the structure would change as the Code was developed.
The drafts of subsections Site Location and Water Management were reviewed and edited at the meeting. This meeting marked the first opportunity for the CDC to spend time working on balancing science, practicality and sustainability in wording requirements and recommendations to ensure the true welfare concerns were addressed but that no potentially unreasonable expectations/limitations were implied should the code be used as the basis for an assessment or regulatory investigation. Homework items were identified for the secretary coming of the meeting, relating to finding science-based information to use for determining wording for these sections.
The group discussed what key points, references and resources would be useful for drafting some of the other major topics agreed would be included in the Code Structure.
MEETING #3: JUNE 2011
The third CDC meeting was a day and half meeting in Toronto on June 6 and 7th. The focus of this meeting was:
- to review for a second time the Site Selection and Water Management subsections and follow-up on homework related to these sections arising out of the second meeting
- to review the sections on Health and Welfare, Feed Management and Biosecurity.
The group completed the second review of the subsections from the first meeting and the first review of Health and Welfare but did have enough time to review the Biosecurity section in detail. It was agreed that the draft biosecurity section should be re-worked to align with the national biosecurity strategy being worked on by CMBA with the CFIA. Participants from within the CDC offered to provide the draft strategy document to the secretary for use reworking this section.
During this meeting one of the challenges encountered was to determine the appropriate level of detail to include. To ensure the document was robust and detailed enough to satisfy the welfare concerns, but did not cross over into being a “how to” manual was a challenge. The group expects that the input from the public comment period may help the CDC to gauge what is the necessary amount of detail.
The public comment period is open to everyone. It is also the opportunity for CDC members to have their constituents review the draft and provide input before the document is finalized. The draft Code will be posted on the NFACC website along with instructions for submitting comments. The Scientists’ Committee Report will also be made publicly available at that time. The CDC will review all the feedback from the public comment period and revise the Code as appropriate.
MEETING #4: AUGUST 2011
The fourth meeting of the CDC was held in Toronto on August 29 and 30th for a day and a half.
The primary focus of this meeting was for the Chair of the Scientist Committee report to present the draft SC Report to the CDC.
The presentation on the report generated a fair amount of discussion on some topics, particularly the “Physical Aspects of Housing” which included conclusions from scientific literature relating to cage size. During the discussion,
- the conclusions from the science
- public perception and pressures
- regulations from other countries
- current Canadian practices
were all considered in relation to how they should influence the Canadian Code. The task of balancing these to develop useful code that will support the sustainability of the industry is not easy. The CDC will have more discussion on this topic before drafting the requirements and recommended best practices to be included in this section.
Overall the Scientist Report was well received. A few suggestions relating to clarification of wording and one area where people felt some work presented at a conference in Canada was available for inclusion were sent back to the SC for consideration before the report is sent off for peer review.
The draft section on Environmental Conditions that includes topics like lighting, ventilation and temperature was also reviewed. The reworked section on Biosecurity was also partially reviewed.
At this meeting the CDC reviewed progress to date against the projected project plan. It was agreed that the timelines as originally anticipated were not achievable. The group agreed to the following revised timeline, which still meets overall project requirements:
- Draft Code completed – mid-late June 2012
- Public Comment period – 60 day starting between mid-July and the first week of August.
- CDC review of public comments – late October/early November 2012
- Published Code available March 2013