Thank you, Mr. Chair, and honourable members. It's a pleasure to be before you again. I'm going to share my time today with a member of my board of directors and a long-time organic producer, Mr. Dwayne Smith.
The organic market in Canada is now the fourth largest in the world, worth $4 billion a year, and the global market is worth $64 billion a year. We're poised for continued double-digit growth, but our biggest challenge, quite simply, is supply. We don't have enough product or farmers to keep up with demand.
We have closely studied Bill C-18 and are happy to provide some constructive comment today. COTA has certain reservations, but I want to be clear that it is prepared to support the basic elements of Bill C-18 if reasonable safeguards and clarifications are also made to the final text.
We recently conducted a study that was funded in part by the W. Garfield Weston Foundation with partners USC Canada. That study found that the organic sector uses approximately $78 million worth of seed per year. In particular, organic and ecological field crop seed in Canada is valued at over $50 million annually, but 60% of this is from seed that has been saved, stored, and planted by the farmer. Due to specific agronomic needs and a lack of commercialized varieties targeted for organic application, the organic sector relies on essential derived varieties. Organic growers use small test plots of seed for trials: to understand their localized yield, performance in low-input agriculture, and natural pest resistance; or to ensure GMO traits are not present in the seed.