The Canadian Meat Council (CMC) launched the Protein PACT sustainability framework for the Canadian meat processing sector on Thursday.
It comes amidst United States President Donald Trump’s plans to disrupt relations with a 26 per cent tariff on Canadian products, presumably including meat.
The Protein Pact aims to enhance sustainability practices across the industry, aligning with global standards while addressing critical issues, CMC said in a release. It is a close joint effort with the U.S. meat industry.
The Protein PACT was developed by the U.S. based Meat Institute, in which Canada’s main meat packers are members, is a partnership uniting stakeholders across the animal protein industry to accelerate progress toward global sustainable development goals, focusing on people, animals, communities and the environment, the organization said in a news release.
Bringing the Protein PACT to Canada allows CMC members to collaboratively and pre-competitively advance the sustainability of the animal processing sector. By adapting this framework for Canada, CMC’s goal is to emplower Canadian meat processors to collaborate on shared sustainability goals and work together to improve North American-wide practices, it said,
“Canada’s red meat processing sector have sophisticated science-based practices and outcomes across their establishments and systems in place,” CMC president and chief executive officer Chris White. “This initiative will provide a vehicle to broadly communicate these initiatives and demonstrate our leadership to key stakeholders.”
Through initiatives like the Protein PACT, the North American meat processing industry is poised to make even greater strides in advancing sustainability and meeting the challenges of the future together, the release said.
“By uniting industry stakeholders under a common framework, the Protein PACT will ensure that Canada’s meat processors can continuously improve their operations to achieve the highest standards of sustainability, transparency, and accountability,” Meat Institute President and chief executive Julie Anna Potts said.
