Thank you for your testimony.
Mr. Arnold, you mentioned polls. This is not the first time that there have been polls. As long ago as 1999, when I was an assistant with the Bloc Québécois, we introduced a bill on the mandatory labelling of GMOs. Of course, we did not come up with a bill like that overnight. There were public and stakeholder consultations. Even back then, there was the same concern for transparency and for making sure consumers could know exactly what was on their plates. Recently, we took up the cause again, with another bill that was unfortunately not passed. That does not mean that we will not try again.
I have some questions about labelling. This is a voluntary program that the government agreed to put in place and that is currently in force. If I recall correctly, that was under the Paul Martin government in 2004. The voluntary code allows a tolerance of 5% for GMOs that does not have to be on the label. This is the same policy that we have today.
As an organization, have you reviewed that policy in the five years since? It need not have been an exhaustive study. I imagine that you are able to tell us if the policy is effective or if there is a place for such a policy. Or are you here again today to tell us that we need to be transparent, because, in fact, with a policy like this that is not at all binding on the industry, nothing has changed?