Finance committee  It's very important. Last week I was talking with one of my members. He was telling me that he looked at one month's bill—he was looking at his heating costs—and 25% of the bill was the actual product. All the rest was taxes, delivery charges and everything else. That's at the current level.

Finance committee  I can ask.

Finance committee  I'll take this one. We don't have a position on interprovincial trade. On meat specifically, there are impacts to international trade should we lower standards. Right now, processing plants are either federally inspected or provincially inspected. If we lower our standards to meet provincial inspections, that could potentially complicate international trade.

Finance committee  Our second ask is that the government foster a business environment that supports Canadian agriculture through regulatory, policy and taxation requirements that track alongside those of our international competitors. While the Canadian government cannot control global events, they can control the regulatory, policy and taxation burdens on Canadian farmers.

International Trade committee  Yes, absolutely, there's been a positive result from that, particularly as we've been shut out of the Chinese market. We're looking to build in other Asian markets, and Japan has certainly been one of those. Again, I don't have the statistics right in front of me on how much it has increased, but—I feel like a broken record; I apologize—I will definitely get back to you on those numbers.

International Trade committee  As far as I know, yes, that is correct, and to Will's answer, if we don't have the market to be able to use this alternative system, it means the plant has to shut down for a day and implement a completely different system. We need that market, and right now the market's not consistent because of this barrier.

International Trade committee  Go ahead, Will.

International Trade committee  I am going to check to make sure I have the appropriate answer and get back to you, but my understanding is that, yes, they can use the lactic acid wash that Canada is not allowed to use. I will confirm that to be 100% certain.

International Trade committee  You're asking a crystal-ball question, so I'll give you a crystal-ball answer. Obviously they're going to know before coming to the trade table that this is non-negotiable, so it's kind of like we're showing our hand before we even go into trade negotiations. I think they will absolutely use that in their negotiations as well, whether they want that or not, which we know in the U.S. they do.

International Trade committee  I'm going to have to get back to you on that as well. I know that, with respect to the halal beef, they're now starting to look for additional requirements from the CFIA. The CFIA, I think, doesn't necessarily have the processes in place to inspect and to ensure something is halal, so that is a question we're working on right now.

International Trade committee  Again, I can start on this. You're asking the $100-million question, because it is a trade barrier. It's not as if it hasn't been brought up multiple times. From what we understand, the EU is saying it doesn't meet their technical standards, so they are unwilling to move. We've had meetings with Global Affairs Canada and Minister Ng's office.

International Trade committee  I'm not sure. Will, do you know the answer? It's certainly more than six years.

International Trade committee  Yes, and I'll make it brief. It was well said already. The only thing I wanted to add was that we have great potential to export beef into our Asia-Pacific countries. Japan, in particular, really likes Canadian beef. As we mentioned earlier with the U.S. being 70% of our exports, we're looking to diversify.

International Trade committee  If it's okay, I'll start and then you can add to this. Yes, we do. When the U.K. separated from Europe, it agreed to take the CETA with them. In essence, the way we wash and disinfect our cattle is a scientifically proven process that is completely safe. It has been used and accepted globally.

International Trade committee  If we could get to a point where we could put a clause like that in, I think that goes to the issue of reciprocity, but I'm not sure that it would work. In this particular case, atypical BSE is a disease that happens to cattle later on in their lives. It's completely natural. This is not the BSE that would shut down the border.