Members of the Coalition to Fix the Container Crunch Issue Statement on National Supply Chain Summit

Members of the Coalition to Fix the Container Crunch, including the Canadian Produce Marketing Association, Pulse Canada, and Soy Canada released the following statement on the conclusion of the National Supply Chain Summit:

“Substantial cost increases and delays along containerized supply chains continue to threaten Canada’s food security and the competitiveness and economic viability of Canadian importers and exporters.

“The National Supply Chain Summit provided important recognition of the key role government must play in working toward a long-term solution of the complex problems impacting all parts of containerized supply chains. Our organizations appreciated the opportunity to highlight the priorities of our members who depend on a consistent and reliable containerized supply chain to serve their customers at home in Canada and around the world.

“We see the announcement of the Supply Chain Task Force as an important first step in working toward solutions, and believe it could provide an opportunity for real progress on short and long-term issues. It is imperative that this task force Task Force bring industry and government departments together, and that it is charged with working to effectively address ongoing supply chain disruptions, such as container service in the short-term, and support supply chain resiliency in the long-term.

“The work of this group must also include a fast-paced analysis and assessment of critical supply chains with a view to identifying key system constraints, bottlenecks and chokepoints, and the infrastructure, process controls, collaboration efforts, data and information sharing and legislative and regulatory changes required to create greater supply chain resiliency.

“These actions are critical next steps that will not only increase resiliency in Canadian supply chains, but improve operating levels, network connectivity and financial performance for all. Our groups remain at the government’s disposal as we work, united, to fix these ongoing supply chain disruptions that are hurting businesses and making life more expensive for Canadians.”