Agriculture committee  Certainly. It's my pleasure, Mr. Chair. The variety in particular has been changed in terms of the traditional historical variety, and the change has resulted in a difference in the composition of that barley, the nutritional profile. That then triggers the novel trait in terms of that barley being presented to animals as a feed.

Agriculture committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. In terms of intellectual properties, for new varieties coming on board, it is part of the agency's mandate to register those new varieties under plant breeders' rights. So we're active in that area. The agency is undertaking consultation with stakeholders to determine what is working well with respect to the current programming system, what people want to see, what stakeholders want to see, and how the agency can align with the vision of the sector.

Agriculture committee  The agency would certainly be very interested in registering this particular new variety of barley. The agency seeks to balance its mandate for protection with enabling innovation on the part of industry. In this particular case, what we're seeing is a variety that's coming forward with a significantly different composition in terms of the barley, the nutritional profile, and the composition.

Agriculture committee  Thank you for the question, Mr. Chair. I'll just clarify and restate. Imported agricultural products are required to indicate the country of origin, and those would include fresh fruit and vegetables, as the honourable member has suggested. If those incoming products are processed and there's a substantial transformation that occurs here in Canada, if 51% of the direct costs of producing or manufacturing the goods is Canadian, then the product can be labelled as “product of Canada”.

Agriculture committee  They would not be eligible to use the “product of Canada” designation.

Agriculture committee  Merci, monsieur Gravel. What I can do at this time is give you a sense of the rules that govern the labelling of products that can be described as products of Canada and the rules about describing the country of origin. Statements such as “made in Canada” and “product of Canada” can be applied when the food is manufactured in this country.

Agriculture committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I know the file you're referring to. The file is one that involves not only assessment by CFIA. Also, in part, there is a question of a health assessment. We have had discussions with Health Canada, so we're very close to finalizing that. We've engaged the company--the stakeholder--throughout, so the company is well aware and seems to be reasonably optimistic, as are we, that we'll be able to bring this file to a close very soon.

Agriculture committee  Mr. Chair, regarding the deadstock and renderers, I'm assuming that perhaps the trigger for the question was the discussion on strengthening Canada's feed ban and the need for renderers and deadstock collectors to be able to implement any future decision about strengthening Canada's feed ban.

Agriculture committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm pleased to respond to the question. The objective of our activities with respect to plum pox in the Niagara region continues to be eradication at this point. We understand the sensitivities around a couple of things. One is the activity that the agency undertakes when eradication is the goal and when positive trees are detected.

Agriculture committee  Thank you, Dr. Gravel, and thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'd be delighted to respond to the question. It is true that at this time these ingredients can be incorporated in cheese products. It is permitted under the regulations. The agency is pleased to support the work of the dairy producers, the dairy processors, and the department in looking at what would be the path going forward.