The Dispute Resolution Corporation (DRC) announces that Kevin Smith is joining the team as vice-president, operations. His responsibilities will encompass team leadership, development of new opportunities in standards development/delivery, and contributing to the DRC’s marketing and business strategies.

Smith brings more than 20 years of program development and delivery leadership experience to DRC, with seven of those years as ex officio Government of Canada representative on the DRC board of directors.  Prior to joining DRC, Smith gained expertise developing new trade and commerce programs for many commodities by working collaboratively and obtaining consensus with industry partners both domestically and internationally. From his participation on various international fora, such as Codex Alimentarius, Kevin also brings extensive networking opportunities and a deep knowledge of the international standards community.

“Kevin is an outstanding addition to our DRC team, as he brings a great combination of management experience, program innovation and what it takes to deliver client/member success,” said Luc Mougeot, president and CEO of DRC. “As DRC continues its growth and focuses not only on North America but internationally, Kevin’s leadership and his strong background in building government/industry networks will accelerate DRC’s growth as an international dispute resolution body. We are thrilled to have him join our team!” 

DRC is a non-profit, membership-based organization serving the produce trade. DRC provides harmonized standards, procedures and services to members to help them avoid commercial disputes. When differences of opinion occur, we provide consultation, mediation and arbitration services to resolve the issue in a timely and cost-effective manner. We strive to counsel and educate members about best practices so they may avoid disputes altogether. Our dispute resolution model is designed to reduce risk and facilitate trade between members. For Canadians, DRC membership is not only a good business practice, it is a regulatory requirement of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

 Source: Dispute Resolution Corporation March 12, 2021 news release