In the interest of time, I will continue in French.
Transportation is another concern. Although there is no longer a container shortage as was experienced last year, transportation is still an issue that the Canadian meat industry is concerned with. When dealing with the Canadian rail companies in particular, a large number of our members are finding it difficult to adapt to their demands and requirements. They are left with the impression that perishable products are considered a nuisance and they are questioning the commitment of the railways to provide quality service.
I will not go into details about the coalition we are proposing. You will find that in our brief.
I will turn to export market development. The overall objective of the Canadian pork industry is to become the preferred supplier of high quality pork. To achieve this, the industry will need to be able to supply a well differentiated product and effectively position and market it in a domestic and export marketplace. And this assumes that we would have enough to market the product, as Mr. Preugschas mentioned a few moments ago.
It is recognized that the quality advantage that Canadian pork once enjoyed over its competitors has narrowed and our traditional differentiation points no longer suffice. A science-based differentiation is now required to improve the competitiveness of Canadian pork.
Pork is the most versatile meat, but we have yet to exploit its full potential. More research and development is required to do so.
Developing new products and successfully differentiating Canadian pork will not fully benefit the industry unless there is effective marketing. Better marketing tools need to be developed.
We still believe that Canada remains one of the best places in the world, if not the best place in the world, to produce high end quality pork. At this time our industry not only needs some assistance in positioning and marketing its product, but more coordinated and better focused research and development as well.
Thank you very much.