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Minutes of the Executive Committee held by Teleconference on Thursday 5 June 2008 at 7.45pm
Present:
Jim Syme (chair), Steve Clark, Mark Heard, Margaret Edwards, Graham Keen, Alastair Bridge
Apologies:
Ed Scott, Ian Manson, Andrew Taylor
Minutes of Previous Meeting:
Jim moved that the Minutes of the previous meeting were a true and accurate record Margaret seconded
Matters arising:
None
Strategic Plan
- Jim said that the draft was not for a “normal” Plan but the hope is that it is clear, addresses the SWOT analysis
- The recently completed survey shows there are 4 or 5 priorities to address
- The Executive will now have until 20 June to study the draft and should come back to Alastair with any thoughts
- The draft will then be sent to members who will have 3 weeks to consider it, any suggested improvements will be considered by the Executive and then the finished Plan will be issued
- Graham asked if the 2008-9 annual plan will form the basis of the 2008-9 budget to which Jim replied that it would
Commodity Levy
- Jim said that people are asking “what are we going to do and what is the Levy likely to be?”
- The preliminary costings in the draft Strategic Plan give an indicator as to what the Levy may be - 0.40c/litre?
- The next step is for a full and comprehensive proposal to be drawn up, to be run past a PR person (consult HortNZ or Winegrowers), the draft to be considered by the Executive, then to regional chairs for comment and then it will be decided if we will go round the country and do another presentations to members
- Once the proposal is drawn up we will need a “levy-dedicated” teleconference
- Steve Clark said that any proposal needs to have an accurate budget and Margaret commented that the last Australian attempt to introduce a levy failed because of the lack of information and misinformation being spread by opponents of the idea
- Jim was of the opinion that if done properly the levy may well not be in force until at least 2011
- A Levy sub-committee of Jim, Ian and Alastair was set up
Country of Origin Labelling
- Margaret spoke about the difficulty of ONZ policing overseas oils. ONZ could only attempt to prove adulteration but it would be costly. We must promote ONZ certification positively.
- We need to get overseas articles published here. Alastair to explore possibility of Investigate magazine to look at the area of fake oil.
- Margaret reported that Consumer magazine may be dgoing to do another survey of olive oils
- Point 5 in the Country of Origin Labelling position paper amended to read “introduce an advisory protocol to deal with complaints made to Olives New Zealand regarding imported ‘extra virgin olive oils’ and introduce guidelines for use by any buyer on how to deal with complaints to the retailer/producer”.
- Margaret said oils even though oils may be rancid they could still be “extra virgin”. New Zealand only answers to the Codex standards – not the IOC standards. The NZFSA would not be interested in dealing with complaints about overseas oils at it is not a food safety issue.
- Jim was of the opinion that we should be pushing the positive attributes of New Zealand oils rather than focussing on the negatives of imported oils.
- Graham said that our money would be far better spent on promotion of the “red dot”.
Mis-use of Certification seal
Alastair explained the new requirement as stated in the Seal Licensing Agreement for the “red dot” to be displayed on all bottles and it was agreed that the same requirement needed to be included in the Declaration of Compliance and also in the letter from the sensory panel to the grower
Co-opt additional Executive members
- Jim explained that there is a gap on the Executive and “a lack of horsepower”. He also asked Executive members to indicate whether they would be available for the Executive after the next AGM
- Alastair spoke to the two circulated CV’s for Brian Milne and David Walshaw
- Margaret agreed that we should co-opt additional members so long as they have specific roles and we could identify areas of “need” eg. a scientific role
- Mark Heard agreed
- Jim agreed to consult absentee Executive members about co-opting additional members and that we should then agree on the roles they will play
Up-dating of IOP Manual
- Alastair spoke about the need to update the IOP Manual especially the Pests and Diseases section which is missing approx. 50 pages following the shift from the old website to the new.
- He has spoken with Sandy Lang and is waiting on a quote from him to do the work.
- Margaret suggested that Leandro’s and Pia’s papers from this year’s conference could also be added
- Jim Syme suggested we need a small team to trawl through the website and identify areas that need up-dating – Alastair to lead
Database advertising
- Alastair outlined recent approaches by commercial parties to use our database for advertising and suggested a fee of $1,000
- Graham agreed that $1,000 would be cheap
- Margaret objects to database/website advertising and would favour corporate membership instead
- Jim asked Margaret to source more information on corporate membership and then compare cost benefits with email advertising
Kapiti to become a branch of Olives New Zealand
all agreed that Kapiti should be admitted as a branch of ONZ
Financial Report
Graham presented his latest report
Margaret’s Spanish Trip
Jim thanked Margaret for her comprehensive report which was accepted
2008 Certificaton
- Margaret reported that this year’s certification is “all set to go” but to date no oils have been accepted.
- This year there will be a set 11 sessions of up to 12 oils each in order to reduce the cost to MhortResearch and maintain costs to ONZ members
2008 Conference
Alastair report that arrangements for this year’s conference on 10, 11 and 12 October are well in hand
Website up-date
- Steve Clark spoke to his paper. The cost to set up an e-Newsletter would be $480 plus GST – Steve had circulated a sample to the Executive. However the success would depend on the level of contributions
- Graham thought an e-Newsletter would be very popular
- Jim thanked Steve for his work on the website
Communications Sub-committee
Jim sees a need for a communications strategy and he will prepare a paper for critique by the Executive
Database Questionnaire
- a database questionnaire is to be sent out to all members with this year’s subscription renewal notices
- copies will also be sent to regions for handing on to non-ONZ growers
- Graham suggested that processors should also be asked for contact names of growers for whom they press
General Business
none
Action Points
- Levy report to be compiled – Ian Manson to lead
- Alastair to contact “Investigate” magazine
- Jim to consult with Executive members not at this meeting about the co-opting of Brian Milne and David Walshaw
- Margaret to investigate corporate membership v email advertising
- Jim to prepare communications strategy paper
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