Annex 1 - Food and Beverage Sector Taskforce Terms of Reference
Context
1. The Food and Beverage Sector engagement takes place in the context of the importance of increasing New Zealand's rate of sustainable economic growth.
2. The Government is inviting sectors and enterprises in New Zealand to join in guiding Government policy and decision making as set out in the Growth and Innovation Framework, and reaffirmed in the Sustainable Development Programme of Action.
3. The vision for New Zealand is:
- A land where diversity is valued and reflected in our national identity;
- A great place to live, learn, work and do business;
- A birthplace of world-changing people and ideas; and
- A place where people invest in the future.
Engagement Purpose
4. The generic objectives of sector engagement are to:
- Facilitate sustainable economic development, e.g. by encouraging an increase in the proportion of firms pursuing high value added activities;
- Ensure generic policies and institutional arrangements impact on a sector in a consistent and mutually reinforcing way - that is, opportunities to change government's generic or sector specific policy settings in order to lift industry growth rates should be identified; and
- Improve co-ordination, linkages and networks between government and sector, particularly in respect of business assistance, science and education.
5. With this in mind the Food and Beverage Taskforce is asked to establish a development agenda for the sector, including bold targets - if deemed useful - secure stakeholders' ownership of that agenda and commitment to implementing it.
6. The starting point is recognition of the Food and Beverage sector's recent success - in terms of quality and international reputation, the increasing proportion of exports as added value products and increased productivity and export growth.
7. The Taskforce should provide vision, drive and information to help shape strategic thinking in the sector, based on a sound analysis of current strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The Taskforce should focus on consideration of solutions resulting in concrete recommendations and actions that involve input from both the industry and government, either collectively or individually. In addition it may want to "drill down" to consider specific sub-sectors at some stage in the process.
Issues Based Approach
8. A flexible issues based approach will enable a dynamic working relationship to develop, with issues addressed as they arise and recommendations implemented as they are agreed, rather than waiting until the Taskforce process is complete.
Strategic Component
9. The strategic component of the Taskforce's work should provide the sector - in partnership with Government - an opportunity to think about likely future scenarios and for considering ongoing needs and opportunities.
10. A strategic view might be informed by questions such as:
- How should the Food and Beverage sector be developed over the next 10 years, given changing demands and market conditions?
- What would it take, for example, to double the value of Food and Beverage exports in that time?
- What actions for industry and/or government would be required for such development to take place?
Sustainable Development
11. In its deliberations, the Taskforce should take note of the overarching objectives for development in New Zealand set out in the Sustainable Development Programme of Action.
Outcome
12. The ideal outcome would be that the resources of industry, government, science and education are focused in partnership to deliver faster, smarter, sustainable growth in the Food and Beverage sector.
Working Groups
13. The Taskforce may establish Working Groups to work on specific priority issues. The Working Groups will be comprised of expert sector representatives appointed by the Taskforce and officials from government agencies responsible for policy relating to the issue in question, such as MAF, NZTE, TEC, MoRST, FRST, MFAT, TPK, Department of Labour, Ministry of Social Development and others. It is at this level that other groups within the sector, such as Industry Training Organisations or sector representative bodies, may be involved or consulted. The size of Working Groups will be flexible as will be their duration. They will be co-chaired by a sector representative and a government official.
14. The output of the Working Groups will usually be advice to the Taskforce on possible actions for the government and/or industry to address the issue under consideration. The Working Groups may also produce discussion papers or other papers on issues. In parallel with advice to the Taskforce, the relevant government officials will, as appropriate, advise relevant Ministers on policy proposals
Reporting
15. The Taskforce will report to the Minister of Economic Development and the Minister of Agriculture.
In Scope
16. The Food and Beverage Taskforce will consider the full range of the value chain from pre-farm gate/harvester to consumer (including the hospitality industry) and address such things as consumer demand, distribution, marketing and market development, processing, product development, research and development, and production.
17. In particular it will:
- include consideration of a range of inputs including research, science and technology, skills and labour supply and investment;
- consider various food and beverage products from the standpoint of increasing complexity and specificity along the continuum of primary production, basic food, differentiated food and ingredients, processed food and beverages, nutriceuticals and functional foods and beverage and nutrigenomics.
- include the following sub-sectors: kiwifruit; pipfruit; wine; brewing; processed vegetables; fresh vegetables; other horticulture (e.g. berryfruit, nuts, olives); dairy; sheepmeat; beef; venison and game, pork, poultry, seafood (wild catch fisheries); aquaculture; and other beverage (mineral water, softdrinks, juices);
- include core cluster businesses, such as agritech and food handling and processing enterprises and services; and
- include the relationships between the Food and Beverage sector and other sectors with co-joined value chains; e.g. tourism, cosmetics and health.
Not in Scope
18. Non-food primary production activities, e.g. forestry, fibre production, are not in scope.
Specific Food and Beverage Objectives
19. To achieve its task the Taskforce will likely need to:
- take a whole-of-government perspective particularly by identifying opportunities for improved co-ordination across government agencies and between government and the sector;
- facilitate sector appraisal of, and gearing towards, exploiting the opportunities and meeting the threats provided by changing global (particularly consumer) demand, emerging markets and competitors;
- identify and work towards minimising or eliminating New Zealand specific barriers to realising growth in the Food and Beverage sector;
- identify and clarify the government's role in addressing these barriers and seizing the opportunities;
- evaluate existing government Food and Beverage related strategies, programmes or services to ensure that they are in alignment with industry needs;
- facilitate further economic development, by identifying actions to encourage an increase in the proportion of firms pursuing high value-added activities;
- ensure that generic government policies and institutional arrangements are providing the best framework for growth for the sector in a consistent and mutually reinforcing way;
- identify the potential for and pursue improved coordination, linkages and networks within the sector;
- consider and work towards the potential for growth in the wider cluster industries such as agritech, food processing and services;
- identify proactive actions to take advantage of new trade opportunities, including free trade agreements, e.g. with China and Thailand;
- consider the role of the local market and associated food culture, and identify opportunities to develop this further as a means to encourage innovation;
- re-position the sector's image in the public mind to reflect the reality of the Food and Beverage sector as one that is highly innovative, high performing and an attractive option for investment and careers;
- identify the opportunities to realise the market potential of sustainably produced food and beverage products; and
- assist industry to adopt practices across the value chain (from pre-farm gate/harvester to consumer) that are environmentally sustainable over the long-term.
Timelines
20. Two phases of work are envisaged.
Active Engagement Phase
21. The active engagement phase is projected to last up to 18 months until June 2006. This is envisaged as a period of intensive work identifying issues and formulating recommendations resulting in a development agenda for the sector, with actions being implemented as agreed.
22. The engagement work programme following the initial Taskforce meeting will be dependant on the priorities identified by the Taskforce itself.
Implementation Phase
23. It is envisaged that this phase will begin concurrently with the active engagement phase, and entail implementation of each of the individual actions identified by the Taskforce.
24. The aim will be to complete all implementation within a reasonable timeframe, e.g. 3-5 years from the start of the engagement process. The Taskforce itself, however, is asked to provide advice on the length of the implementation phase, taking into account the nature of the recommendations, and the desire for this to be a time-bound process.
Taskforce Membership Selection Criteria
25. To emphasise the value chain view of New Zealand's Food and Beverage sector it is proposed that members be selected for their knowledge of the whole value chain, rather than attempting to represent every Food and Beverage sub-sector (of which there are at least 17).
26. Important value chain components include:
- production;
- product development;
- processing;
- packaging;
- marketing and market development;
- transport and distribution;
- retailing; and
- consumption.
27. Knowledge of key aspects such as skills and talent, science and innovation, and investment as well as a strong economic development perspective is also essential.
28. In addition the criteria for membership should include:
- strong commercial experience and a leadership role in the Food and Beverage sector;
- strategic and futures thinking - understanding the specific needs of the Food and Beverage sector, including conditions and trends, both in New Zealand and internationally;
- strong appreciation of the business growth path of Food and Beverage companies and critical issues in the business growth cycle;
- focus on developing New Zealand productive capacity;
- strong international experience and a focus on export growth;
- understanding of the roles of government and its interface with the sector;
- understanding of how environmental sustainability supports the Food and Beverage sector, market opportunities, and how the sector itself contributes to environmental sustainability;
- good understanding of marketing (including market access issues), distributing and supporting New Zealand Food and Beverage products and services in foreign markets; and
- experience in dealing with off-shore organisations, agencies, including major corporate partners, Governments, and investors.
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