Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the standing committee, for the opportunity for Monsanto Canada to appear before the standing committee.
My name is Derek Penner, and I am the president and general manager of Monsanto Canada. I am joined by my colleague, who is our vice-president of sales and marketing for our corn and soybean business in Canada.
I'm a Canadian who grew up in Winnipeg. I have been employed in various positions within Monsanto since 2002. Last fall I was appointed to my current position, leading our Canadian business. Prior to this role I spent the last couple of years in Europe, as Monsanto's director of strategy, licensing, and product management for the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region based in Europe.
As a company that is 100% focused on agriculture and a leader in the field of applying the science of biotechnology to agriculture, I certainly appreciate the opportunity to speak to you today about our work in Canada and throughout the globe.
During the brief time I have been allotted today, I thought I would review our presence in Canada with you, which, in addition to our eastern business office here in Guelph, extends across Canada. I also want to share a bit about our pipeline of beneficial products that has been embraced by Canadian farmers; touch on our industry as a whole and the value and benefits of agricultural biotechnology to Canadian farmers; and finally, reiterate our support for the current science-based regulatory system in Canada, which is critically important to our ability to invest in this country and bring the solutions to growers they are demanding on their farms to run profitable businesses.
On this last point I want to thank the committee for taking the time to look at our industry and ask the questions that will keep it vibrant in the years ahead. The future development and investment in crop technology research in this country is obviously important to our business and to farmers. We want to work cooperatively with our industry colleagues and farmers to continue to bring forward innovative products that will benefit the agricultural sector in this country.
Monsanto Canada employs approximately 280 full-time and part-time people, at 15 different locations and facilities across Canada. In addition to our head office in Winnipeg and our eastern business office in Guelph, we also have a government and regulatory office in Ottawa; a seed manufacturing facility in Lethbridge; research farms in Saskatoon, Yorkton, and Edmonton; breeding facilities in Carman and Oakville, Manitoba, and Oakville, Guelph, and London, Ontario; and a seed production facility in Cranbrook, British Columbia.
Recently we completed the construction of a $12 million state-of-the-art breeding facility in Winnipeg, located adjacent to our head office at the University of Manitoba. I would encourage the standing committee, if you have the time, to come and visit that facility. We would be more than open to share that with you. We are also in the process of investing another $12 million in the upgrade and expansion of our seed manufacturing and canola breeding centre in Lethbridge, Alberta.
It is at these facilities that our research into introducing favourable traits in crops that include corn, soybeans, and canola takes place, and it is where we field test the commercial products that have come out of our extensive research pipeline. These traits, which include weed and pest resistance, yield enhancements, and stress tolerance traits, such as cold or drought, hold considerable potential for the future of agricultural production.
We believe it is important to have Canadian regulatory agencies review the food, feed, and environmental safety of all products of biotechnology. The current system has ensured the safety of the current biotech crops on the marketplace today, and it gives Canadians the confidence that these products are safe. Indeed, they are. Since their introduction in 1996, more than one trillion meals containing biotech crop ingredients have been consumed without a single reliably documented case of harm to either humans or animals. The continued review of these technologies for food, feed, and environmental safety, using a science-based system, sends an important message to our customers around the world that these products have been comprehensively reviewed and they are deemed safe.
We fully recognize that regulatory approval alone doesn't give us permission to proceed with commercial introduction of future products, but it is a critical first step to addressing any issues associated with consumer acceptance of biotech crops. In this regard, we continue to work with other industry players and farm associations in Canada to ensure all products are introduced responsibly and with comprehensive stewardship plans, to not only protect the technology and those who are embracing it, but to ensure that those who want to make a different choice are not negatively impacted.
There is precedent to show that market issues related to the introduction of biotech crops can and have been addressed effectively by the industry. A good example of this can be found in the introduction of transgenic canola in Canada. Working together, farmers and the industry were able to capitalize on the benefits of biotechnology and maintain trading relationships with key buyers throughout the world.
In 2000 the Canola Council of Canada did an economic assessment of the introduction of herbicide-tolerant canola in western Canada. It found that from 1997 to 2000, an incremental cumulative value of up to near $500 million was created for the industry.
Our work is directed at facilitating unburdened access to innovative new technologies that will allow Canadian farmers to remain competitive in a global market. Delivering innovation to the farm starts with research and development. This year Monsanto invested more than $1 billion to develop the most robust pipeline of products in the industry.
Today our researchers throughout the world are actively working to discover, develop, and deliver the next generation of agricultural products so farmers can get more out of each acre of farmland. Everything we do at Monsanto is aimed at helping to make agriculture more productive and more profitable for farmers as well as more efficient and more sustainable for our planet.
Canadian farmers are strong adopters of technology, and they are demanding solutions to help produce more to feed a growing planet while reducing agriculture's impact on the environment. Biotechnology is one tool that can help address these demands. Our ability to conduct and complete research in Canada is critical to allowing us to adequately and accurately answer the many questions farmers and others have asked us to look at.
These are some of the reasons Monsanto continues to invest in the area of agriculture biotechnology and to work with the industry in finding solutions so that new technologies can be brought forward in a positive and responsible manner.
In closing, the research we have undertaken internally, with academics, and with other third-party researchers into bringing new biotech traits to crops like corn, canola, soybeans, alfalfa, sugar beets, wheat, and vegetables indicates that Canadian farmers are searching for new, more economical and sustainable options to enhance their yields and their profitability.
Biotech crops have offered farmers a compelling value proposition, including product effectiveness, yield improvement, simplicity, conservation tillage enhancement, cleaner grain, no crop restrictions, and a solid environmental safety profile.
Canada must continue its leadership position in the biotechnology sector by defending its science-based regulatory system and challenging unjustified trade barriers that are inconsistent with WTO trade rules. We have been encouraged by the positive feedback we have received from Canadian farmers, and indeed farmers around the globe, and we remain fully committed to working with the industry and with government to find manageable and effective solutions to allow the benefits of biotechnology to be shared with farmers, industry, and consumers.
Finally, I would like to bring to the committee's attention an announcement made at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this past week, at which a coalition of 17 companies and governments from around the world, including Monsanto, launched a strategy to improve food security, economic growth, and environmental sustainability by improving productivity and the pace of growth of agriculture.
There's a brochure online called “Realizing a New Vision for Agriculture: A roadmap for stakeholders”. I would encourage the committee to download that. This roadmap sets out ambitious yet critical targets for increasing production by 20%, decreasing greenhouse gases per tonne of production by 20%, and reducing rural poverty by 20% in each of the next three decades. You've heard a lot about that over the last few years and about population growth, and I think this piece is another critical component of the standing committee's notes.
Thank you for your time.