In response to your question, I believe the reason that companies are not coming is not because of cost recovery or the cost of submissions. It was because of two reasons. One was the fact that when submissions came in, they were evaluated on a case-by-case basis and there were no clear-cut guidelines on what requirements were. We've moved forward in articulating what our requirements are, and we continue to do so. We have a guidance document that articulates the requirements for drug submissions. So we are very clear in what we want. We weren't clear before.
Secondly, we had the backlog, and there was no incentive for industry to come in at the time when their submissions would take three years, five years, or eight years for approval. We've put in place process improvements such that we are beginning to eliminate the backlog. Our strategy as we eliminate backlog is the sustainability of being able to continue to review on time.
We've had discussions with the CAHI in encouraging their members to understand that we're getting rid of the backlog. We're eliminating backlog such that we are going to get submissions coming in. We've also talked to the livestock producers in saying that when you go to those companies in the U.S. you are buying drugs from, you have to tell them that we've reduced the backlog, that there will be elimination of backlog, and that there is a real opportunity to bring those drugs in.
I think we also need to understand that in order for us to be competitive, it's a shared responsibility. Health Canada's responsibility is to review on time, and we are committed to do that by early 2009. There has to be a commitment from CAHI to bring these drugs into the Canadian market, because Health Canada cannot make people bring in drugs, cannot make a manufacturer file a submission. They have to be encouraged to bring those in.
I think livestock producers also have a role to play in encouraging companies to come in with these submissions. If these are the drugs they truly require, it really has to be a partnership, and we're committed to that partnership.