Mr. Chair and members of the committee, thank you for inviting us here today. With me is my colleague Dr. Stephen Yarrow, our vice-president of biotechnology. It's our pleasure to offer some remarks to you today on Bill C-18, the agricultural growth act, on behalf of our members and answer any questions you might have.
CropLife Canada is the association representing the manufacturers, developers, and distributors of plant sciences technologies, including pest control products and plant biotechnology, for use in agriculture, urban, and public health settings. We strive to ensure that the benefits of plant science innovation can be enjoyed by farmers and consumers. CropLife Canada promotes sustainable agricultural practices, and we're committed to protecting and promoting human health and the environment.
We also work very closely with a number of stakeholder groups. We're very proud of the fact that all of Canada's major farmer-based grower groups are members of our GrowCanada partnership. We are strongly supportive of Bill C-18, and hope that the House of Commons and Senate can pass it promptly.
We are particularly pleased about the potential to amend the current Plant Breeders' Rights Act, a key plank of the bill. We are also very encouraged by the portions of the agricultural growth act that relate to providing the Canadian Food Inspection Agency with the authority to consider foreign reviews, data, and analyses during the approval or registration of new products in Canada. Both these elements, after all, have certainly been a long time coming. As committee members know, Canada is still operating under the provisions of the Plant Breeders' Rights Act that was passed in 1990. That act, however, only conforms to UPOV 78, not to the updates of the UPOV convention that took place in 1991. I believe only New Zealand and Norway join us on the list of developed countries not currently conforming to UPOV 91.
Our lack of conformity to UPOV 91 has had consequences. It acts as a disincentive to bring to Canada plant varieties that have been developed elsewhere. An associated issue is that it builds in an incentive to invest outside of Canada. As we've pointed out to this committee in the past, agricultural innovation is going to take place, and is taking place, globally. The question becomes, will Canada provide the environment that encourages this innovation to take place in our country? Bill C-18 takes a long overdue step to correct this issue.
Encouraging the development of new varieties of plants is not just a corporate issue. It has direct benefits for Canadian farmers, who use innovation to both increase yields and improve sustainability. Only a modern legislative framework for intellectual property protection, one that brings us into alignment with our global trading partners, can encourage the kind of investment that leads to innovation.
The introduction of Bill C-18, even before it has become law, has already had a positive impact on the environment for investment in innovation. Just last month one of our member companies performed the sod-turning on another new research facility, this time for wheat breeding, near Saskatoon. The prospect of Bill C-18 and the adoption of UPOV 91 was a critical factor for this global company to consider when deciding on where best to invest its research dollars. Other companies are actively working to bring new varieties to Canada, as they can now be assured that Canada will be in line with international standards.
The real-world implications of not modernizing our laws are clear; when these investments in innovation are made elsewhere, immediate benefits, such as increased yield or improved disease resistance, go to farmers who are global competitors of ours. It is well worth noting that universities, government departments, and smaller independent breeders, of which there is an increasing number, also benefit from compliance with UPOV 91. Almost half of Canadian plant breeders' rights applications come from public institutions, and royalties will continue to accrue to them.
There is a need to address the issue of farmer-saved seed and the myth that somehow this bill will prevent this from taking place. This is, of course, completely untrue. Ironically, the current version of the legislation does not address farmer-saved seed in any way. Bill C-18 explicitly addresses it and provides a clear farmers' exception for the saving and planting of farmers' own seed.
Those are some of the areas around plant breeders' rights in Bill C-18. There are other stakeholders who can give you very fulsome explanations of this issue. I gather that at one of your first meetings you heard from Cereals Canada, the Canadian Canola Growers Association, and the Barley Council. We believe the Canadian Seed Trade Association will also provide some very helpful testimony to the committee on a number of fronts.
The less-discussed element of Bill C-18 that we believe deserves attention, and indeed praise, is the portion that provides CFIA with the authority to consider foreign reviews, data, and analyses during approval or registration of new products in Canada.
A key challenge moving forward for the CFIA will be their efforts to streamline and modernize the approvals process. We know that the number of approvals for consideration by the CFIA will continue to rise. This is good news. It clearly demonstrates modernization and confidence in Canada.
The challenge will come in assuring that these approvals and registrations are considered in a timely and predictable manner. Canada needs to work with other nations that adhere to global standards on science-based regulation. There's absolutely no need for Canada to collect a second set of data, perform yet another review, and conduct yet another analysis when it has already been performed by another nation whose standards meet ours. It is needless waste and duplication that can and should be eliminated.
By explicitly granting this authority to the CFIA, Canadian consumers will be far better served, and Canada continues to become an attractive place to invest and do business due to a predictable, timely, science-based regulatory system. It's a common-sense step forward that we support fully.
To conclude, Mr. Chair, as one of the leading agricultural producers and exporters in the world, we believe it's critical that Canada modernize its legislative framework to encourage innovation and investment. To do otherwise would be a tremendous disservice to Canadian farmers, consumers, and our economy as a whole.
The potential for Canadian agriculture is immense. There's a growing world population that is anxious for quality Canadian agriculture and agrifood exports. We have the land, the climate, and the people to fill that need. There's never been a better time to be part of agriculture in Canada. To realize our potential, however, we have to constantly move forward and modernize, keeping pace with our global competitors. Bill C-18 is an important step in that process.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We would be pleased to answer any questions the committee has.