Mr. Chair, it would be my pleasure to respond to that question.
I think the empirical evidence suggests a different story when we look at other countries that have implemented UPOV 91. Even if we look at our own history, the difference between having no internationally based intellectual property regime and introducing UPOV 78.... In fact, many of you might be aware that back in 2002, a 10-year impact study was tabled in Parliament showing some of the benefits of introducing an intellectual property framework. What we saw in Canada was that the actual number of breeding entities increased, both in the public sector and in the private sector. The levels of investment in plant breeding increased, creating a competitive environment. The net result was that actually seed prices, comparatively, went down during that decade of introducing plant breeders' rights than the previous decade before that. That competitive environment really stimulated businesses driving at trying to provide farmers with the lowest costs.
When we look at other countries, too, when they've introduced...the same things have happened. We expect no different with UPOV 91. We don't expect dramatic increases in seed prices. What we expect is a very competitive environment where businesses are vying for farmers' dollars to provide the best varieties they can.
On the point of end-point royalties, I would simply like to add to what the minister said. There's nothing precluding a farmer today or tomorrow from entering into some sort of bilateral contractual arrangement with a seed developer to say they'd like to pay at the back end of the process as opposed to the front end of the process. I think we've been very clear, government has, from the beginning, to say that if we were to ever implement a system that might place conditions upon this practice of farm-safe seed, something that would be an end-point royalty, it would have to go through a very regimented process and that would be, first of all, on a crop-by-crop basis, identifying what the needs of producers are when it comes to long-term investment.
Also, on examining other practices in UPOV 91 countries, there are different royalty collection regimes. In Australia they have an end-point royalty. In the U.K. they have a farm-safe seed royalty, and they are in fact very strongly supported by the farmer community because they understand that if they make those investments, from that they derive better varieties.