Advancing Sustainable Management Systems
in Agriculture and Horticulture

Risk/Driver		Importance/Benefit to the Industry (currently or soon)	Critical	Important	Limited Importance	Not Important
1	Market Access	To maintain or gain overseas market access by addressing regulatory barriers - markets may require evidence that production is undertaken in a sustainable way.
2	Market Positioning	To assist in the positive positioning of a product with retailers and consumers, e.g. to provide assurances that - environmentally sound production practices are used; animal welfare is taken into account; products are safe e.g. minimal/nil pesticide levels. An effective SMS system may assist with access into higher value markets and/or provide a competitive advantage for your products. It may also support an enhancement in the profile of an industry and its products if it effectively addresses any potential areas of concern.
3	Regulatory	To satisfy regulations and regulators requirements. These obligations may be imposed by central or local government e.g. Resource Management Act. An appropriate SMS system may provide the information to satisfy regulatory requirements or possibly mitigate against the development of future regulations developing.
4	Sustainable Production	To facilitate the sustainable and efficient use of production resources e.g. land, water. To facilitate enhanced industry or business triple bottom line performance - economic, environmental and social.