VISION

Fair and ethical trade in fresh produce in North America.

MISSION

To provide the North American produce trade with harmonized standards, procedures and services necessary to avoid and resolve commercial disputes in a timely, cost-effective manner.

BACKGROUND

The DRC is a private, non-profit organization of produce and transportation companies from the three NAFTA countries established in 1999 pursuant to Article 707 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) which provides for the creation of private commercial dispute resolution organizations for agricultural goods. The DRC is the result of efforts by the North American produce industry and the governments from Canada, Mexico and the United States to create such an organization for fresh fruit and vegetable trade. The DRC was designed to build on existing services in the U.S. and fill a gap for international and domestic transactions in Canada and Mexico. At the outset, membership was reserved to companies whose place of business was in Canada, Mexico or the United States. An "Associate Member" category was added to extend the benefits of the organization to produce companies from outside North America when they are dealing with DRC members in North America.