Thank you for the question.
I'll give you a bit of an overview as to how it works. I'll start with pet food, then I'll drill down to where we are. I think that's probably of interest to the committee in terms of this issue as you've expressed it. I'll use analogies instead of boring you with acts and regulations.
The CFIA has a responsibility for pet food as it relates to animal health. If we know that pet food can turn out to be an issue vis-à-vis cows, pigs, and things of that nature, there is a line of responsibility for the CFIA. That's the first thing.
Second, we have a responsibility, as well, for export certification of pet food. That's the reality, and it goes like this. Let's say that an importing country wants us, being Canada, to make sure that the pet food from Canada going into that country meets certain requirements. We will CFIA-certify it against those requirements. It's not unique to pet food. Certification of exports is done by the CFIA on a whole bunch of commodities. It can be beef and things of that nature.
We don't have what I call a regulatory framework for pet food for pets' sake, in the sense of the health of animals as pets--dogs, cats, reptiles, tortoises, or things of that nature. I'm not passing judgment on whether it's a good idea or a bad idea. The regulatory structure has not been there.
This is when we work with pet food: if there is a livestock issue; if there is a pet food certification purpose, for export; and if there is a human health component. That is when, and I stress this, a pet food issue in Canada can be connected to a human health issue. Take treats, for example. Treats, we know, from the work we have done, can be contaminated with salmonella. We know that the treat in question can be handled by a young person. If a kid, or even an adult, for that matter, touches the treat to be given to the dog or the cat, and there's a possibility that the person will touch his or her face afterwards, then we will act. We have the power and responsibility to act. We can recall.
If it's for the pet's sake, for a pet's health, we don't have a recall capacity. We don't have a regulatory capacity, and that's just the nature of where we are right now.