Thank you to the witnesses for being here.
I also would like to welcome the students for this discussion on innovation and competitiveness.
I think it's really important, especially when we have organizations such as yours that are really on the cutting edge in that regard.
Ms. Townsend, in your brief one of the things you spoke about was our trade agenda and where we're going, and also about how we have to make sure our decisions are science-based. Of course, as I've said on other occasions, there is a difference between political science and physical science. Since you, a physical scientist, are not going to say you could ever get to zero, while political scientists will say “hey” because they can't say that, it's something we have to be concerned about. Of course I think that's where low-level presence does come into some of the discussions.
I'd like to talk a little bit about the low-level presence aspect of it, and then I'd also like to go back and discuss UPOV 91 and where we see that going.
I know this is significant for both organizations, so perhaps you could start with the low-level presence and where you see that innovation, either in the science side or in the policy side, is going to help us do that.