Mr. Marvin Hildebrand (Director, Tariffs and Market Access Division, Department of International Trade) at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Committee

Thank you, Graham.

Good morning, Mr. Chairman and committee members.

My name is Marvin Hildebrand. I'm the director of the tariffs and market access division at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. DFAIT's responsibilities with respect to the MPC issue are actually on two levels: overall trade policy, and secondly, the administration of tariff rate quotas.

At the policy level, the department is responsible for the broader international trade elements of the issue, and specifically with respect to article 28 of the GATT; that is, DFAIT deals with the intersection of this agriculture-specific issue with Canada's international trade obligations and our engagement with WTO members as a whole.

While Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is responsible for agricultural trade policy, DFAIT is the lead agency on Canada's overall trade policy and as such deals with the implications of the MPC issue and any government action on it from the perspective of Canada's overall trade relations.

I will turn it over to my colleague, David Usher, to briefly address the tariff rate quota administration dimensions.