Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 608 “Much has changed in the past 10 years,” he told delegates of the CSGA annual meeting held in Clear Lake, Man., in July. He referenced previ- ous projects, such as the Seed Sector Review, and said Seed Synergy will take today’s global economic and reg- ulatory situation into account to deter- mine the best path forward. The CSGA’s Strategic Planning exer- cise, of which Seed Synergy is a part, will take a four-phase approach. The first began at the CSGA annual general meeting in July and the last phase will end in the summer of 2017 with the presentation of a final strategic plan. This exercise is designed in part to ensure that CSGA is positioned to actively participate in the Seed Synergy project by forging consensus among members on key issues, explains Glyn Chancey, CSGA executive director and a former federal regulator. Chancey, who spoke at length about the CSGA Strategic Planning exercise and the Seed Synergy project, notes there is growing concern that the expertise and resources needed to operate the seed regulatory system has been reduced to a point where the system, in its current form, might not be sustainable without a redesign. At the annual meeting, breakout ses- sions were focused on this very topic and featured representatives from all six organizations. During these ses- sions, Chancey encouraged partici- pants to imagine that none of their respective seed organizations existed, with the goal of helping them come together and speak as representatives of a single industry. Essentially, the Seed Synergy project is an exercise that Chancey says will begin with seed sector stakehold- ers “getting their seed together” and which will subsequently broaden out to include other crop sector value chain stakeholders. “That’s become a cliché recently, but ultimately what it means is who’s going to know the industry better than the principal actors who serve that sector? They have historically coordinated their efforts from time to time, but never in a really systematic way,” he says. “There’s recognition that there needs to be an effort to develop a set of prin- ciples and objectives all the organi- zations can subscribe to in order to facilitate the equivalent of one voice where it matters.” Mike Scheffel knows just how help- ful having that one voice might be. Scheffel is a former seed program man- ager for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, and now handles the policy and standards portfolio for CSGA. “It’s more effective when you can come together as one and say to gov- ernment, ‘We all want the same thing, here’s the way we see it, we’ve talked with other groups potentially affected, what do you think?’” Scheffel says. From Menzies’ perspective, CropLife Canada is entering uncharted territory that he thinks will result in positive changes for the industry as a whole. “We’ve worked with all the other groups on different initiatives, but never together like is planned here,” he says.” Marc Zienkiewicz CropLife Canada CEO Ted Menzies says it’s an appropriate time to talk about what the Canadian seed industry looks like today and what it needs to look like and do in the future. Canadian Seed Growers’ Association executive director Glyn Chancey says the seed regulatory system as it looks today might not be sustainable without a redesign. TheBigQuestions As part of the Seed Synergy project, there is agreement among the country’s six seed industry groups on many of the key questions that need to be asked in relation to such a redesign, including: • What is the purpose of the seed regulatory system? • What type of “next-generation” system is best suited to fulfill that purpose? • What are the respective roles of industry and government in any future seed regulatory system? • What institutional arrangements will be required to support such a system? Be sure to checkout future editions of Germination for an indepth look at each of these questions. The editorial team will delve into the Seed Synergy project and what it could mean for Canadian seed.